Northerner
The Northerner was a night train service between Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand . The train with the train numbers 227 (southwards) and 626 (northwards) ran from November 3, 1975 to November 12, 2004 as a replacement for previous night connections without a name.
Since the completion of the railway line between Auckland and Wellington ( North Island Main Trunk ) in 1908, there has been a night train connection on this route.
The previous trains were initially operated with steam, then from 1971 with diesel-electric locomotives of the DA series. Diesel locomotives of the DX series and, in the 1990s, the DF and DC series were used before the Northerner itself .
The rolling stock consisted of extensively rebuilt and renovated cars from the years 1937–1940. 3 baggage cars from 1960 were converted into dining cars. In the 1980s, the rolling stock underwent some changes, such as air conditioning and converting cars into observation cars that ran at the end of the train.
In 2004 the night train connection was discontinued due to lack of capacity. Due to the high costs of the wagons, which would have to be newly procured, it is questionable whether there will be a night train connection on the route again in the future.