Taranaki Flyer

The Taranaki Flyer was the name given to a passenger train that was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Wanganui and New Plymouth.

Introduction

The primary passenger service on the Marton - New Plymouth Line was the New Plymouth Express between Wellington and New Plymouth. It was augmented by three slower mixed trains that ran south from New Plymouth daily. In 1926, patronage was sufficiently high to justify replacing one of the mixed trains with a dedicated passenger service between New Plymouth and Wanganui. This train came to be known as the Taranaki Flyer. [Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History" (Wellington: Grantham House, 1991), pg. 133.]

Operation

For most of its life, the Taranaki Flyer was a carriage train hauled by steam locomotives, and when it was introduced, it took approximately 4.5 hours to complete its journey. On 31 October 1955, the carriage trains were replaced by more economical railcars. [Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", pg. 133.] The railcars used on this route were of the Standard and 88 seater types of the RM class. During the railcar days, the northbound train was no. 524 and the southbound train was no. 525. [Tony Hurst, "Farewell to Steam: Four Decades of Change on New Zealand Railways" (Auckland: Harper Collins Publishers, 1995), pg. 74.]

Demise

During the 1950s, the impact of airlines and private cars started to significantly reduce patronage on New Zealand's trains. Although the introduction of railcars prolonged the life of many other provincial services in New Zealand, it was not successful for the Taranaki Flyer. On 7 February 1959, the service ran for the last time. The final train no. 524 was handled by an 88 seater, RM 116, and a Standard railcar ran train no. 525, RM 30 "Aotea". [Hurst, "Farewell to Steam", pg. 74.]

References