brand industry rail transport in new zealand founded 1987 as intercity rail headquarters wellington new zealand area served new zealand services long distance passenger trains parent kiwirail 2011 present website http www.kiwirailscenic.co.nz kiwirail scenic journeys is the long distance passenger train brand of kiwirail previously tranz scenic 1995 2011 and intercity rail 1987 1995 . contents 1 history 2 services 2.1 livery 2.2 former trains 2.2.1 withdrawn 1995 2.2.2 withdrawn 2001 2.2.3 withdrawn 2002 2.2.4 withdrawn 2004 2.2.5 withdrawn 2012 3 rolling stock 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit former logo of tranz scenic 1995 2011 . the first branding of long distance trains was as intercity rail in 1987 renamed tranz scenic in 1995 . as part of a restructuring programme in november 2001 tranz scenic was incorporated as stand alone subsidiary tranz scenic 2001 ltd. tranz rail sold 50 % of tranz scenic to two directors of the victoria australia rail operator west coast railway for 33 million . 1 the sale included long distance passenger rolling stock and ten diesel locomotives of the dc class reclassified dcp and two ef class electric locomotives . tranz rail was taken over by australian transport firm toll holdings in 2003 and in july 2004 the 50 % share of tranz scenic was purchased by toll as one of the west coast railway directors had died and the business was not performing adequately . 2 in july 2012 it was revealed that kiwirail was considering selling the remaining services . 3 services edit the northern explorer about to depart from wellington railway station with new ak class carriages . the overlander hauled by an ef class electric locomotive near waiouru on the north island main trunk . kiwirail scenic operates four scheduled trains line frequency each way calling at notes capital connection daily mon fri palmerston north shannon levin otaki waikanae paraparaumu wellington coastal pacific daily summer only picton blenheim seddon kaikoura waipara rangiora christchurch northern explorer 3 per week auckland strand papakura hamilton otorohanga national park ohakune palmerston north paraparaumu wellington tranzalpine daily christchurch rolleston darfield springfield arthur s pass otira moana kokiri greymouth kiwirail has trialled excursions with its refurbished silver fern railcar to destinations including napier and gisborne as part of its explore by rail trips . other silver fern tours have included a queen s birthday day tour to napier tours to the tui brewery via the manawatu gorge an easter weekend trip to gisborne valentine s weekend and anzac weekend tours to the central north island . these excursions have been discontinued . livery edit dcp 4761 in tranz scenic livery hauling the tranzalpine . the tranz scenic brand and blue livery has been replaced by white kiwirail livery with the introduction of ak carriages on the coastal pacific tranzalpine and northern explorer . 4 former trains edit in 2004 tranz scenic withdrew the northerner overnight auckland wellington service citing poor patronage . this was the last overnight service in new zealand . tranz scenic also reduced the number of stations served by the overlander service on the north island main trunk . in april 2006 toll nz announced that it was proposing to 5 sell its two south island trains the tranzalpine and the tranzcoastal . in july the end of the overlander service was announced but after significant protest and an increase in patronage due to the publicity the service continued operating on friday saturday and sunday during winter and daily in high summer . in 2009 a resumption of seven day a week operation was announced a result of increasing passenger numbers . wikinews has related news toll to cancel overlander train service withdrawn 1995 edit the lynx express picton christchurch withdrawn 2001 edit the bay express wellington napier the geyserland auckland rotorua the kaimai express auckland tauranga the waikato connection hamilton auckland withdrawn 2002 edit the southerner christchurch dunedin invercargill withdrawn 2004 edit the northerner auckland wellington overnight withdrawn 2012 edit the overlander auckland wellington daily ; replaced by the northern explorer running alternate days . rolling stock edit new ak class carriages on the coastal pacific at picton . in march 2009 the new zealand government confirmed funding of nz 39.9 million for 17 ak class carriages for the tranzalpine and coastal pacific . the class are the first passenger carriages to be designed and built in new zealand for many years and were built at kiwirail s hillside workshops in dunedin with three cars entering service on the coastal pacific on 2 november 2011 . 6 further ak carriages were deployed on the new northern explorer and the tranzalpine . the capital connection uses british rail 1970s carriages refurbished in new zealand as the s class . see also edit kiwirail rail transport in new zealand references edit auckland rail deal clinched . new zealand herald . 24 december 2001 . retrieved 10 january 2012 . toll nz buys back tranz scenic passenger services . 20 may 2004 . retrieved 10 january 2012 . opposition parties criticise tranzscenic plans . radio new zealand . 1 august 2012 . auckland trains new tranz carriage look tranz alpine journey up for grabs . one news . 22 may 2006 . retrieved 24 november 2011 . palmer kloe 3 november 2011 . new carriages debut on south island s rails . christchurch 3 news . retrieved 3 november 2011 . external links edit kiwi rail scenic journeys v t e rail operators of new zealand current operators kiwirail kiwirail freight kiwirail scenic journeys dunedin railways transdev auckland transdev wellington former operators new zealand railways department nzr new zealand railways corporation new zealand rail ltd tranz rail tranz metro toll rail retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kiwirail scenic journeys & oldid 734882938 categories long distance passenger trains in new zealandrailway companies of new zealand navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch edit links this page was last modified on 17 august 2016 at 08 37 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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