The Picton Express was a passenger express train

Express train

Express trains are a form of rail service. Express trains make only a small number of stops, instead of stopping at every single station...

 operated by the New Zealand Railways Department

New Zealand Railways Department

The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...

 between Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 and Picton

Picton, New Zealand

Picton is a town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It is close to the head of Queen Charlotte Sound near the north-east corner of the South Island. The population was 2928 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 72 from 2001...

. It ran from December 1945 until February 1956, and was thus the shortest-lived provincial express in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Introduction

The Main North Line took over half a century to build, and passengers using the northern portion in Marlborough

Marlborough, New Zealand

Marlborough is one of the regions of New Zealand, located in the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a region and a district, and its council is located at Blenheim. Marlborough is known for its dry climate, the picturesque Marlborough Sounds, and sauvignon blanc...

 were primarily catered for with mixed train

Mixed train

A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s, while the southern section was the route of the Culverden Express

Culverden Express

The Culverden Express was a passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Christchurch and Culverden. It ran from 1886 until its replacement by the Picton Express in 1945 and its route followed both the Main North Line and the Waiau Branch...

. As of the mid-1920s, the Culverden Express began to terminate at the coastal Parnassus

Parnassus, New Zealand

Parnassus is a town located in the Canterbury region's Hurunui District on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the north bank of the Waiau River and the 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings gave its usually resident population as 900, a decline of 6.8% or...

 terminus rather than the inland Culverden

Culverden

Culverden is a small town in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. The 2006 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings had a usually-resident population of 420. This represented an increase of 7% or 27 people from the previous census in 2001.Culverden is located on State Highway...

 terminus, and this was the forerunner to the Picton Express. The route north of Parnassus was completed as the Main North Line on 15 December 1945, and from this date, the Picton Express was introduced, operating the length of the line.

Operation

The Picton Express began life as a daily service, offering a swifter connection between Canterbury and Marlborough than had previously been available. However, after operating for only a month, coal shortages in January 1946 meant that it was cut to thrice weekly, operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It operated to this schedule for the rest of its existence, except for when extra trains had to be run at peak holiday seasons such as Christmas and Easter. In 1950, the northbound journey took 8 hours and 15 minutes, departing Christchurch at 8:25am and arriving in Picton at 4:40pm. The southbound journey was slightly longer, taking 8 hours and 22 minutes; its Picton departure was at 9:45am and it arrived in Christchurch at 6:07pm. The two services passed each other north of Kaikoura

Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 180 km north of Christchurch.Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard....

, and in Blenheim

Blenheim, New Zealand

Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...

, passengers could make road connections to Nelson

Nelson, New Zealand

Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....

. As the Railways Department did not operate dining car

Dining car

A dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....

s at any time during the Picton Express's life, stops were made at Waipara and Kaikoura for passengers to purchase refreshments. The train was always hauled by steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s, typically of the A^B class

NZR Ab class

The NZR AB class was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national railway system. Originally an improvement on the 1906 A class, 141 were built between 1915 and 1927 by NZR's Addington Workshops, A & G Price Limited of Thames, New Zealand, and North...

.

Replacement

As the 1950s began, competition increased from airlines, buses, and private cars. Passenger numbers began to dwindle, especially during off-peak periods, and the Railways Department began to investigate railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

 alternatives that would be better suited to the service. In February 1956, just over ten years after the Picton Express began operating, it was replaced by RM class

NZR RM class

The RM class is the classification used by the New Zealand Railways Department and its successors given to most railcars and railbuses that have operated on New Zealand's national rail network. As NZR and its successors has operated many diverse types of railcars, alternate names have been given...

 88 seater railcars

NZR RM class (88 seater)

The NZR RM class 88-seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand, known unofficially as 'articulateds', 'twinsets', 'Drewrys' and 'Fiats'. They were purchased to replace steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains...

. When the railcars wore out in the 1970s, they were replaced by a carriage train that was later rebranded as the TranzCoastal. Before the rebranding, this carriage train was sometimes also referred to as the Picton Express.