THE SOUTHERNER TRAIN - the last train from Invercargill to Christchurch

[@vivianecivo]

That's a sad video. Most cities in the world kept their passengers' trains to keep tourists going across their country and I do not understand why NZ didn't keep the Southerner. I'm sure that lots of os tourists and new Zealanders would love to have this trip from Invercargill to Christchurch, which is a beautiful landscape, by train. Honestly, between driving and going by train, I surely would choose the train. Anyway, thank you very much for sharing this video.

[@ronsurgenor745]

You may like my video on youtube, " Napier to Gisborne Railway by steam train". This line has been closed for several years but has recently reopened as far as Wairoa. It is a very scenic route !

[@TheSonic10160]

The trouble is unlike Christchurch to Greymouth or Christchurch to Picton, Christchurch to Invercargill isn't scenically spectacular. It's boring, with some interesting terrain north of Dunedin that the Dunedin Railways Seasider ran along to Palmerston. In addition to mostly being flat and uninteresting, it's an exceptionally long journey too, nearly twice the distance to Invercargill than to Picton.

[@Sam-747]

@@TheSonic10160 I definitely agree with you, pretty much from Christchurch to Oamaru is quite boring because it’s just flat plains with farm land. After Oamaru it can get a bit more interesting but definitely not as interesting as the Tranz Alpine and Coastal Pacific

[@danieleyre8913]

@@TheSonic10160 Given how many coaches cater for the demand for transport between Christchurch and Dunedin: Surely a transport service between the two cities is feasible?

[@TheSonic10160]

@@danieleyre8913 Only if the trains can go faster than 140 kph on the plains to make up the time lost going through the twisties between Oamaru and Dunedin, otherwise the train would have to be cheaper than driving (pretty easy with the price of fuel) or bussing (quite a lot harder)

[@dominiccrowe8018]

Thank you for the Southerner video Ron Surgenor.

[@conradellis1307]

A relatively new Christchurch Station !

[@alasdairwright1575]

Terribly sad day, when the Southerner was no more. Who were the Locomotive Engineers for this last journey of this train? Did anyone ever have Charles Manuka Witehira as Driver at any time? He has since passed on himself 3 years ago. He also appears in "Off The Rails" with Marcus Lush on the Sunday night Goods

[@Tom-Lahaye]

Sad that passenger train travel is treated with such disrespect in NZ. Instead of building the new expressway from Hamilton north they could have closed the gaps in the electrification scheme on the NIMT and introduce modern multi voltage EMUs, that would cut the travel time by 3 to 4 hours compared with the slow Northern Explorer train, which takes almost 11 hours for a distance of 680 km. I understand that remaining overland train services are aimed at tourists and speed is not of the highest priority but to make train travel a viable alternative to car travel they need to be faster and run more frequently. Higher speeds would mean improvement of track alignment however, as much of the track was in such poor condition when I visited NZ in 2010 that it felt like a mechanical bull at times. Things may have improved under Kiwirail in that respect, the new carriages with airbag suspension will help a lot.

[@danieleyre8913]

Why would closing the electrification gap make any difference?! Besides; the NIMT eel and the Auckland suburban electrification have different power ratings and are incompatible, NZ’s mainline railway network has a maximum speed of 120km/h and alignments are designed for that maximum. It allow for faster running would require expensive and disruptive works to change alignments and chords.

[@Tom-Lahaye]

@@danieleyre8913 Electric locomotives running over systems of different voltage and even non electrified sections happens all the time in Europe. Multi voltage and even multi mode diesel/overhead electrics are built. But I read in another comment that Kiwi Rail probably is going to order some of these multi mode machines from Stadler Rail in addition to the already ordered 10000 series. Not sure if that is true as it was someone's comment on a different video. That would make the further electrification of the network unnecessary as now one locomotive can run the length of the North island, on its diesel engine on non electrified sections and on electric power at both the 3000V DC and 25kV AC systems.

[@danieleyre8913]

@@Tom-Lahaye Why are you even talking about electrification for?! How would it improve the railways?!

[@antonieoostendorp1616]

Was that Timothy Richard Shadbolt having his photo taken with the train Crew

[@ronsurgenor745]

Yes, none other !

[@dominiccrowe8018]

I took the Southerner a lot to Christchurch from Invercargill in the late 90's and my last Southerner trip was in 2001 I video my Southerner trips on the train and I got my Southerner train trips on DVD.

[@ronsurgenor745]

Hi, I have video on you tube of the last Endeavour train to Napier, and if you are interested steam to Gisborne ! Cheers.

[@braxtonmathews6434]

They recently ran a charted train to invercargal I believe last month

[@ronsurgenor745]

Yes, from Blenheim to Invercargill. I was on it. I have a video on You tube of the trip to Kaikoura under steam. Also the Kingston Flyer on 1/5/21. .

[@braxtonmathews6434]

@@ronsurgenor745 I seen some videos of it in invercargall on the NZ rail fan on Facebook. Is Kingston flyer running?

[@ronsurgenor745]

@@braxtonmathews6434 Kingston Flyer only running for Charters at the moment

[@ircdelacium2619]

Hey do you still know the far per person, so 1 adult?

[@alasdairwright1397]

At 13:12 whom is this illustrious Driver? Also, whom is the fellow standing next to him with the shorts and cap on?

[@ronsurgenor745]

I have no idea who the crew were, we only fly down from Wellington to go on the last Southerner from Invercargill

[@crypticallly]

4:12 someone unhappy

[@iainmillar1532]

What date was this?

[@ronsurgenor745]

Sunday the 10th February 2002, Depart 8.25am. The fare from Invercargill to Christchurch was $194 for 1 Adult and 1 Senior (not cheap). Privilege fare (Staff) was $42.

[@iainmillar1532]

@@ronsurgenor745 Thanks Ron. I remember going on the Southerner as a kid (1980s). I can't believe that even in my memory the Southerner (Invercargill), Bay Express (Napier), Kaimai Express (Tauranga) and Geyserland Express (Rotorua) have all ended.

[@ronsurgenor745]

@@iainmillar1532 I have a video on KZbin "Last Bay Express train to Napier", also "Napier to Gisborne Railway by steam train" Cheers.

[@iainmillar1532]

@@ronsurgenor745 great thanks i'll check them out!