Passenger trains in New Zealand were operated by the
New Zealand Railways Department from 1880 to 1981, alongside private rail operators such as the
Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. The Department was corporatised as the
New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) in 1982, and later reorganised as a
state-owned enterprise in 1986. A consulting study commissioned by the NZRC and carried out by
Booz Allen Hamilton recommended re-orientation of long-distance passenger services toward tourist operations. The
Fourth Labour Government passed the New Zealand Railways Corporation Restructuring Act 1990 on 28 August of that year. Two months later, on 28 October 1990, the New Zealand government removed core rail transport and shipping operations from the New Zealand Railways Corporation, creating a separate entity called
New Zealand Rail Limited, a Crown Transferee company created under the Act. New Zealand Rail Limited's long-distance passenger trains carried the
InterCity Rail branding. New Zealand Rail Limited was privatised and sold to a consortium named TranzRail Holdings Limited in 1993 and changed its name to Tranz Rail in October 1995. As part of the rebranding exercise, InterCity Rail was renamed
Tranz Scenic.
Tranz Scenic (2001) Ltd As part of a restructuring programme, in November 2001, Tranz Scenic was incorporated as stand-alone subsidiary Tranz Scenic (2001) Limited. Tranz Rail then sold 50% of Tranz Scenic for $33 million to Donald Gibson and Gary McDonald, who were also directors of Australian railway operator
West Coast Railway. The sale included long-distance passenger rolling stock and 10 diesel locomotives of the
DC class (reclassified DCP), and two
EF class electric locomotives. Tranz Rail intended to sell the remaining 50% share in Tranz Scenic, but this sale never eventuated. West Coast Rail withdrew several long-distance trains that were not profitable, retaining the routes that had sufficient passenger numbers (see below). Tranz Rail was taken over by Australian transport firm
Toll Holdings in 2003. The company was renamed
Toll NZ and did not retain any of the Tranz Rail directors. In July 2004, the 50% share of Tranz Scenic was purchased by Toll, as one of the West Coast Railway directors had died and the business was not performing adequately. In May 2008, the New Zealand Government agreed to buy the rail and sea transport assets of Toll NZ Limited for $665 million. The government branded the new company
KiwiRail.
KiwiRail era In 2011, KiwiRail developed a new brand of passenger trains geared toward the increasing tourism industry in New Zealand. The new brand, named KiwiRail Scenic Journeys, was launched with new
AK-class carriages designed to showcase New Zealand's scenery, as well as providing long-distance passenger train services. During the transformation, the Tranz Coastal train was rebranded as the
Coastal Pacific and the Overlander became the
Northern Explorer; whereas the
TranzAlpine's name was retained. In July 2012, it was revealed that KiwiRail was considering selling the remaining services. No buyers were found and the long-distance passenger services remain operated by KiwiRail Scenic Journeys. Meanwhile, KiwiRail's ferry brand,
Interislander, was building on its core business taking vehicles and freight across Cook Strait and looking to promote the trip as an iconic tourism experience and a scenic alternative to flying. In 2017, KiwiRail decided to bring its rail and ferry operations together under one brand,
The Great Journeys of New Zealand, which offers a connected passenger service throughout New Zealand, from
Auckland to
Greymouth, via train and ferry. The division is now experiencing rapid double-digit annual growth, due to the growth of Chinese tourism to New Zealand, leading KiwiRail to announce that it may purchase eight AK-class carriages to add to the 17 purchased in 2010. In 2021, KiwiRail announced the suspension two of its three services, the
Northern Explorer and the
Coastal Pacific. KiwiRail restarted the services from September 2022. ==Services==