New Zealand’s newest passenger train | Te Huia | Hamilton to Auckland

hi I'm in New Zealand's fourth most popular city Hamilton and today we're going to be catching the train to Auckland it's one of New Zealand's newest passenger Services called tahuya so come along and find out what it's like [Music] in this video we'll explore the train check out the onboard food and drink options and learn a bit more about some of the sites along the way [Music] Hamilton is located on the banks of the longest river in New Zealand the waikato we'll start our journey at Frankton station the first of two stations in Hamilton it's about two kilometers from the city center we're in the suburb of Frankton hence the station's name the station is located at the junction of the North Island main trunk and East Coast main trunk lines he's a freight train heading onto the east coast line while we'll be heading north a station first opened here in 1877 however the current building dates from 1975. the station is not staffed or open for the twice daily tahuya it only opens for the train that runs between Auckland and Wellington the northern Explorer there's a mural of an Old Railway Bridge here and here's our train arriving into the platform fresh from the depot Loco 7295 will actually be on the rear of our train as the train will depart back in the direction from which it came the standard contest includes two standard passenger cars that each seat 50 people an accessible Cafe car which sets 20 people and has space for Wheelchairs and a generator car which includes 28 seats and space for bikes in total they're setting for 147 passengers extra carriages are added in school holidays and busy periods with Services running with up to six carriages the Locos are overhauled DF class Locos originally built by General Motors diesel of Canada the DF class were all rebuilt in the 1990s with turbocharged engines the Locos which operate passenger trains have been fitted with a wheel slick control system and fire suppression system making them a subclass the dfb he's a dfb class Loco operating on a regional service out of Wellington [Music] today's service is scheduled to take 2 hours and 40 minutes to cover a distance of about 140 kilometers The Strand is a station in Auckland Loco 7077 will lead today's service the front Carriage also features a driving cab which kiwi rail is looking to start using subject to approval from the rail regulator this will allow tahuya to be operated with one Loco now that the doors have been released let's hop aboard seating isn't a two by two arrangement with some table seating we'll walk through the train later we depart on schedule coming together if you wish to purchase a ticket for today's Journey or purchase a b car or Tokyo B cards up please make your way to the cafe card located towards the front of the train the cafe is open for food and drinks every wish to purchase any food or drinks hot and cold please make your way to the cafe car located towards the front of the train thank you the recorded announcements are in both English and Maori in the event of an emergency please stay seated and follow the instructions of your train crew for further information please refer to the safety notices in the carriage you can't pre-purchase tickets for this train you buy them on board with cash or using a smart card there's a kiwi rail Freight Depot here where they also store the tahuya carriages the tahuya carriages are British Rail Mark II carriages dating from the 1970s but have been substantially rebuilt a couple of times since here the British Rail Mark II coach for comparison this train is named after an extinct bird the huya the last confirmed sighting was in 1907. foreign Frankton we arrive at our first stop wrote a curry a park and ride station in North Hamilton [Music] let's take a closer look at the route tahuya operates two returned services from Hamilton to Auckland on weekdays and one on Saturdays the service first ran in April 2021 although the service was suspended for a few months because of covert lockdowns [Music] [Music] a few minutes later we're in the countryside here [Music] the waikato river stretches 425 kilometers from Lake taupo and includes the spectacular hookah Falls [Music] there's free Wi-Fi on board with a 250 megabyte per passenger limit the onboard Cafe sells a range of hot and cold food and drinks including alcohol the staff let us know to expect speed restrictions stops and delays because of Works to upgrade the line that began the previous weekend tahuya has been funded on a trial until June 2024. the trial is funded through passenger fares a subsidy from the New Zealand government and from local Council rates we follow State Highway 1 which runs the length of both main islands foreign our first stop after leaving Hamilton Huntley is named after a town in Scotland is Huntley [Music] Huntley is home to one of the first schools in New Zealand to become a Bilingual School in 1984 teaching in both Maori and English foreign [Music] [Music] power station is the largest thermal power station in New Zealand it can burn both coal and gas [Music] there are rail upgrade Works underway here there are both power sockets and USB charging points available let's go for a Wonder here's one of the three onboard toilets there are a number of luggage Stacks throughout the train for larger items however unusually no overhead luggage racks [Music] foreign toilet in here you'll find a baby change table a retention toilet and a basin with a soap dispenser and a hand dryer everything is clean and in good working order I like these push button folding doors they are both regular and recycling bins on board which is great to see these devices are for wheelchair boarding we'll come back to the cafe in a moment there's an area for the train manager here seating is a mix of Airline style seats or seating around a table I haven't had lunch so let's grab something to eat they have some specials in addition to the standard menu items the cafe attendant is very friendly he tells me that staff on this train also work on the Northern Explorer which I'll be traveling on soon you can pay by cash or with a card [Music] kiwis are known for making great pies so I went for a creamy chicken pie they've given me Cutlery but honestly who eats a pie with Cutlery let's dig in not bad [Music] the Rolling Green Hills remind me of hobbiton which was filmed about 45 minutes away from Hamilton [Music] I find the diversity of scenery in New Zealand incredibly captivating [Music] while I was at the cafe I also grabbed a coffee thankfully kiwis appreciate good coffee as much as Australians [Music] we passed quite a few housing developments however there are no Railway stations nearby we reach 90 kilometers per hour through this section this is both the horse and motor racing circuit [Music] we've just left the waikato and entered the southernmost part of the Auckland region the railway station is being upgraded and the line from here to papakura is being electrified allowing Southern Line trains to run an additional 19 kilometers this replaces the Diesel Service that ran as a shuttle and to take a closer look at the seats which feature retractable arm rests they have decent padding a good headrest reasonable legroom and large sturdy tray tables you'll also find USB ports between seats we're now coming into our first stop in Auckland papakura we arrive about 10 minutes ahead of schedule this is a set down only stop as it's served by auckland's electric train Network [Music] [Music] we're held here a short while foreign train this is the current Terminus of the Southern Line [Music] [Music] I decide it's wine time the next station is transfer here for 80 Southern and Eastern line services and buses to Auckland Airport uses the level crossing light you normally find on roads for pedestrian Crossings this is a lower alcohol Rose from Marlborough on one side of us is a container Freight yard and the other is an emu Depot we stop here briefly awaiting Train control clearance [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] bus interchange opened here in 2021 with an airport link bus operating every 10 minutes as we're on the North Island main trunk Railway you'll also see freight trains pass through here foreign [Music] this is a closer look at one of the wheelchair hoists and here's one in use [Music] from otahuhu there are two different routes into Central Auckland via the southern line or the Eastern line tahuya uses the Eastern line which means we'll get some wonderful views of Hobson Bay foreign of kiwi rails container terminals this is a title Estuary within a volcanic crater the train manager lets everyone know there's no toilets at the Strand station so to use the onboard toilets if we need to although these carriages were originally built in the 1970s kiwi rail has done an excellent job of overhauling them the Interiors are very modern and comfortable [Music] foreign [Music] on the opposite side of the train is another Basin formed from a volcano crater which flows into this estuary foreign s into Hobson Bay [Music] the train runs on a Causeway over the Basin and there's a station near the center of the Bays [Music] foreign [Music] please note this is the final stop on this service this trend is located on the Eastern edge of auckland's CBD and is only used by two trains tahuya and the northern Explorer to Wellington Suburban trains use an underground station closer to the CBD so how much is the fare I paid 15 New Zealand dollars to travel from Hamilton to auckland's strand station however if you have a regional public transport smart card a b card the fare is even cheaper however both of these fares are half the normal price since the pandemic the New Zealand government has offered half-price public transit as part of a cost reduction package that scheme is scheduled to end on 31 March 2023 so the full price cash fare will be 30 New Zealand dollars either way I think that's good value final station on this service please remember to take your belongings with you thank you for choosing to who ya we arrive about 10 minutes behind schedule the train manager advises this is partly because of speed restrictions including line speed reductions in anticipation of Summer the New Zealand government has been exploring options for a high-speed service on this route and possibly electrifying the route in the interim but high costs mean this is probably some time away thank you foreign was a really enjoyable trip it's a very comfortable train really well modernized comfortable seating and a good service enjoyable food reasonably priced so if you're ever in New Zealand on the North Island I'd recommend giving it a go there are stapling yards here for Suburban trains thank you tahuya will head back to Hamilton in about half an hour [Music] I hope you enjoyed this video if you did be sure to subscribe and hit the notification Bell so you don't miss the next one hope to see you soon foreign

Channel: From the Window Seat

Views: 119,501

Keywords: trip report, train review, travel by train, rail journeys, regional railways, regional train, window seat, aus flight channel, from the window seat, great railway journeys, kiwi trains, kiwi rail, trains of new zealand, te hooya, auckland train, hamilton train

Id: UxqvoNGd_f0

Length: 21min 27sec (1287 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 25 2023