Silver Star (train)
Encyclopedia
The Silver Star was a luxury passenger train that ran overnight between Auckland
and Wellington
on the North Island Main Trunk railway of New Zealand
. The train ran from Monday, 6 September 1971 until Sunday, 8 June 1979. It replaced the Night Limited
express passenger trains, which provided a faster service than the "Ordinary" Expresses by stopping at only six intermediate stations en-route and not dragging postal or parcels vans at the rear. Designed as a "hotel on wheels", its carriages were distinctive in New Zealand; rather than being painted in the traditional red, the Silver Star's carriages were made of stainless steel, and silver in appearance.
's attempt to compete with the introduction of jet aircraft for business traffic between Auckland
and Wellington
. The service broke new ground in New Zealand by providing a full on-board crew of car stewards (sourced from the inter-island rail ferry service) who doubled as dining car staff at meal times. However, the product was effectively ten years too late. Travel by National Airways Corporation 737 took just over one hour; the Silver Star, by contrast, took around 12 hours and 30 minutes. While popular at holiday times, and despite providing the overnight hotel option for travellers, it simply could not attract enough passengers willing to pay a premium to travel by train between the two cities.
, many rail passengers preferred to pay around 33% less for a large reclining seat or 15% less for a 2-berth sleeper cabin without shower or toilet, than pay for a Silver Star cabin - more upmarket travellers simply preferred to fly.
locomotives, and later one DX class
) for a six-night-a-week service. All passengers were carried in sleeping cars, with 12 being eight two-berth (incorporating separate bathrooms with showers for each cabin) "Twinette" and 12 being 16 single-berth (with toilet/basin facilities) "Roomette" cars. Passengers could purchase dinner, breakfast and other refreshments including alcoholic beverages and souvenirs in the buffet car, of which three of these were built, and each seated 42 alcove-style with tables. Four power-baggage vans completed the consists.
- class vans two to six years after that, classed X28280, were heavily modeled after those under the Star cars.
- Napier
service, and relocate the three 32-seat and three 36-seat Endeavour
cars to the Christchurch - Picton route, but these plans came to nothing after the Silver Star stock was withdrawn from service and blue asbestos insulation was found inside the coaches. The relevant union refused to work with the dangerous material, and the carriages lay parked in sidings for over ten years while their future was debated. Options included continuing with the refurbishment and using the trains on a double daily service (both overnight and daylight) to improve utilisation and enabling the train's externally similarly-styled daytime equivalent, Silver Fern
railcar
s, to be redeployed on other routes. However, the government baulked at the cost (which was estimated at being over $20 million to refurbish the train) given a large budget deficit and public debt, so decided against funding the refurbishment plan.
In December 1987, the Wellington-based Silver Star cars were hauled to Auckland by DX5477
, where private tourist firm Pacific Trailways intended to convert all 27 passenger cars into a luxury tourist train that would travel around both North and South Islands for NZ $1000. Nothing eventuated and all the cars languished in Auckland for two more years.
In 1990, 24 of the 31 cars were purchased by the British luxury travel company, Orient Express Trains & Cruises (of Orient-Express Hotels
) and taken to A & G Price
, of Thames, for regauging from New Zealand's 1067 mm gauge to 1000 mm gauge for Thai and Malaysian railway lines. An extensive internal rebuild and fit-out as well as exterior painting and badging was undertaken by the new owners at their (then) newly-constructed maintenance depot on KTMB
land in Singapore's Keppel Road rail yards. Since then the refurbished consist has operated a regular 5-star luxury cruise-train service between Singapore and Bangkok as the Eastern & Oriental Express.
Six cars remain at A & G Price
- two double sleepers, two single sleepers and two power vans. All are owned by Orient-Express Trains & Cruises.
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
on the North Island Main Trunk railway of 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...
. The train ran from Monday, 6 September 1971 until Sunday, 8 June 1979. It replaced the Night Limited
Night Limited
The Night Limited was an express passenger train that operated in New Zealand between Wellington and Auckland, utilising the entire length of the North Island Main Trunk...
express passenger trains, which provided a faster service than the "Ordinary" Expresses by stopping at only six intermediate stations en-route and not dragging postal or parcels vans at the rear. Designed as a "hotel on wheels", its carriages were distinctive in New Zealand; rather than being painted in the traditional red, the Silver Star's carriages were made of stainless steel, and silver in appearance.
Introduction
The train was NZRNew 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...
's attempt to compete with the introduction of jet aircraft for business traffic between Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
and Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
. The service broke new ground in New Zealand by providing a full on-board crew of car stewards (sourced from the inter-island rail ferry service) who doubled as dining car staff at meal times. However, the product was effectively ten years too late. Travel by National Airways Corporation 737 took just over one hour; the Silver Star, by contrast, took around 12 hours and 30 minutes. While popular at holiday times, and despite providing the overnight hotel option for travellers, it simply could not attract enough passengers willing to pay a premium to travel by train between the two cities.
Demise
New Zealand Railways at the time also ran another overnight train service, (the "Night Limited") which stopped at more than double the stations of the Silver Star, which had much older (1930s/1940s-built) rolling stock, and which had no on-board buffet service, but had cheaper fares (and three classes of accommodation). By refurbishing this train in 1975, which became the NorthernerNortherner (train)
The Northerner was an overnight passenger train between Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand. Originally numbered 227 southbound and 626 northbound, it replaced the unnamed and less revered ordinary express trains supplementing the luxurious Silver Star , which had replaced the Night Limited in...
, many rail passengers preferred to pay around 33% less for a large reclining seat or 15% less for a 2-berth sleeper cabin without shower or toilet, than pay for a Silver Star cabin - more upmarket travellers simply preferred to fly.
Rolling stock and motive power
The 31 coaches were manufactured by Hitachi & Nippon Sharyo and it was hauled by diesel locomotives (initially two DA classNZR DA class
The NZR Da diesel-electric mainline locomotive class ran on the New Zealand railway system between 1955 and 1989. With 146 locomotives, it was the most numerous class to operate in New Zealand, just five more than the AB class steam locomotive....
locomotives, and later one DX class
NZR DX class
The NZR DX class is a class of 49 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives that currently operates on New Zealand's national railway network.Built by General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, they were introduced to New Zealand between 1972 and 1976. The class is based on the General Electric...
) for a six-night-a-week service. All passengers were carried in sleeping cars, with 12 being eight two-berth (incorporating separate bathrooms with showers for each cabin) "Twinette" and 12 being 16 single-berth (with toilet/basin facilities) "Roomette" cars. Passengers could purchase dinner, breakfast and other refreshments including alcoholic beverages and souvenirs in the buffet car, of which three of these were built, and each seated 42 alcove-style with tables. Four power-baggage vans completed the consists.
Bogies
All 31 cars ran on bogies of a newer design, classed X28250 by NZR, which offered a superior quality ride, through better absorption of inertial dampers and better suspension, and bore a resemblance to the Kinki-Sharyo -manufactured bogies, classed X27250 by NZR, under steam vans and postal vans built by Kinki. The bogies built especially for the Northerner trains four years later and the FMNZR FM guards van
The NZR FM guards van is a rail vehicle in New Zealand originally used on freight trains but now used primarily on passenger trains, reclassified AG.-First batch, 1977:...
- class vans two to six years after that, classed X28280, were heavily modeled after those under the Star cars.
Replacement
The Railways Department attempted to replace the Northerner and Silver Star with a refurbished Silver Star which would be a 50% seating and 50% sleeper train, redeploy eight 30-seat cars from the Northerner rolling stock on the WellingtonWellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
- Napier
Napier, New Zealand
Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...
service, and relocate the three 32-seat and three 36-seat Endeavour
Endeavour (train)
The Endeavour was a long-distance passenger train service between Wellington and Napier in the North Island of New Zealand...
cars to the Christchurch - Picton route, but these plans came to nothing after the Silver Star stock was withdrawn from service and blue asbestos insulation was found inside the coaches. The relevant union refused to work with the dangerous material, and the carriages lay parked in sidings for over ten years while their future was debated. Options included continuing with the refurbishment and using the trains on a double daily service (both overnight and daylight) to improve utilisation and enabling the train's externally similarly-styled daytime equivalent, Silver Fern
NZR RM class (Silver Fern)
This article is about the New Zealand railcar service and the railcars themselves. For other uses, see Silver Fern .The NZR RM class Silver Fern is a class of railcar in New Zealand. The three air-conditioned and sound-proofed 723-kW 96-seater diesel-electric twin-set railcars were built by...
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...
s, to be redeployed on other routes. However, the government baulked at the cost (which was estimated at being over $20 million to refurbish the train) given a large budget deficit and public debt, so decided against funding the refurbishment plan.
In December 1987, the Wellington-based Silver Star cars were hauled to Auckland by DX5477
NZR DX class
The NZR DX class is a class of 49 Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives that currently operates on New Zealand's national railway network.Built by General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States, they were introduced to New Zealand between 1972 and 1976. The class is based on the General Electric...
, where private tourist firm Pacific Trailways intended to convert all 27 passenger cars into a luxury tourist train that would travel around both North and South Islands for NZ $1000. Nothing eventuated and all the cars languished in Auckland for two more years.
In 1990, 24 of the 31 cars were purchased by the British luxury travel company, Orient Express Trains & Cruises (of Orient-Express Hotels
Orient-Express Hotels
Orient-Express Hotels Ltd is a hotel and leisure company that operates high end hotels, cruise and train services around the world. As of 2008 it owns or partly owns more than 40 individual deluxe hotels, three restaurants, six tourist trains and two river cruise businesses in more than 25...
) and taken to A & G Price
A & G Price
A & G Price Limited is an engineering firm and locomotive manufacturer in Thames, New Zealand, established in 1868. In 2004 a precision formed yacht keel division was formed to make the Maximus canting keel...
, of Thames, for regauging from New Zealand's 1067 mm gauge to 1000 mm gauge for Thai and Malaysian railway lines. An extensive internal rebuild and fit-out as well as exterior painting and badging was undertaken by the new owners at their (then) newly-constructed maintenance depot on KTMB
Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was first built to transport tin...
land in Singapore's Keppel Road rail yards. Since then the refurbished consist has operated a regular 5-star luxury cruise-train service between Singapore and Bangkok as the Eastern & Oriental Express.
Six cars remain at A & G Price
A & G Price
A & G Price Limited is an engineering firm and locomotive manufacturer in Thames, New Zealand, established in 1868. In 2004 a precision formed yacht keel division was formed to make the Maximus canting keel...
- two double sleepers, two single sleepers and two power vans. All are owned by Orient-Express Trains & Cruises.