Key Details

Date: 14th May 2023

Service Name: Northern Explorer

Route: Auckland to Wellington (joining at Hamilton)

Train Equipment: New Zealand AK class carriages, 
DFB locomotives

Cabin: Scenic Class

The Route

The Northern Explorer train service is one of the most popular and by far the longest passenger train service in the whole of Aotearoa New Zealand. Travelling between New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland and it’s capital of Wellington the total journey is scheduled to take 10 hours and 55 minutes on the northbound and 10 hours and 35 minutes on the inbound. The service is not that frequent only operating three times per week in each direct with southbound service operating on Monday, Thursday and Saturday whilst the northbound operates on Friday, Sunday and Wednesdays.

The total distance of the journey comes in at 681km and operates along the North Island Main Trunk which is a 1067mm mainly single line track that covers almost the entirely of this journey. Also operating along parts of this route is the Te Huia train service between Auckland and Hamilton and the Capital Connection service between Wellington an Palmerston North, in addition to Kiwi Rail freight services. Approximately 460km or 65% of the line is electrified although for the NortherExplorer service its New Zealand AK class carriages are hauled by a diesel powered a New Zealand DF / DFT class GM locomotive

For all intensive purposes our journey today starts in the city of Hamilton which is New Zealand’s fourth largest city with a population of roughly 180,000 people and located around a 1.5 hour drive south of Auckland. Our service which originates from Auckland’s Strand Railway Station at 7.45am departs Hamilton at 10.15am from the relatively centrally located Frankton Station that is about 2.8km from the city centre before arriving into Wellington Station at 6.25pm.

This means the Northern Explorer service is by no means a quick way to get between Auckland and Wellington which is only typically around a 1 hour flight. If you are doing the whole journey expect travel time to be close to 11 hours from Auckland or just shy over 8 hours from Hamilton. Speed restrictions and other delays have been known to occur on this route so it is not uncommon for duration time to blow out even more.

The journey itself is world renowned as one of New Zealand’s few but amongst the most iconic train journeys and is operated by Great Journeys of New Zealand who also run the Coastal Pacific and Trans Alpine services on the South Island, in addition to the InterIslander Ferry Service. Heavily orientated to tourists but non-the less still servicing the communities and cities it travels through along the way the journey provides ample opportunity to to experience the North Island’s lush green hills and enticing valleys, beautiful Central Plateau, Tongariro National Park and its specular Mount Raphaeu and the amazing Kapti coast all whilst marvelling towering viaducts and impressive train track engineering! Stops on this route include Hamilton, Otoronhanga, Taumaruni, National Park, Ohakune, Palmerston North and Paraparaumu

How to book and cost

Booking this journey can be done on the offical Great Journeys of New Zealand website or though authorised booking agents. Travelling on this service generally requires some advance planning as it only operates 3 times per week in each direct and on alternate days so you may very well find yourself having to plan your other holiday plans around NZ to work around taking this train journey.

The journey itself costs $189NZD for the standard service Scenic Class which comes inclusive of allocated seating and designated luggage allowances. The Scenic Class however is exclusive of any complimentary food and beverages which can be purchased separately.

To be totally honest this is not a cheap train trip and it is not hard to understand why as it’s heavily marketed to tourists and holiday makers. With and airfares between Auckland and Wellington often on sale below $100 sometimes as cheap as $50 it is usually much quicker and cheaper to fly between the two cities. Even Intercity’s bus service is also cheaper. For those who enjoy a unique train journey, are in no rush for time and eager to see magincient scenery this may however be be a train well worth paying the premium for!

Getting to Hamilton Frankton Station

Hamilton’s Frankton railway station is one of two railway stations in the city of Hamilton and the only station serviced by the Northern Explorer. Luckily the station is the closer of the two to the city centre of Hamilton although it is still around a 2.5km -3km distance from most city hotels. This means it is around a 5 minute drive if you can find a taxi or Uber willing to take out the short distance or a 35 minute walk (of which much of it runs parallel to the tracks). You can also take public transport with several bus routes dropping by at the station but with a travel time of 30 minutes it wold be almost as quick to walk if you can handle your luggage along the way!

Checking in at Hamilton Station

Upon arrival at the station there is a very small waiting room and a bag drop desk should you wish to check any of your included luggage allowance for the journey down to Wellington. The offical check in period for this train service is extremely narrow at this station with check in and bag drop not opening to 30 minutes prior to departure and closely 20 minutes prior to departure. With such a narrow 10 minute bag drop window it pays to double check your departure time closely!

Once bags were checked and I had made myself known to the ground agent at the ticket office there then wasn’t much else to do with the waiting room having not much more than a small seating area, a vending machine and restrooms. For this reason we don’t recommend getting to the station any earlier than need to be as there is not much to do and without being able to get rid of bags early its not going to be easy to visit the shops or restaurants of nearby Frankton whilst waiting.

We are also reminded at this point that to get your boarding pass you’ll need to be seated in the waiting room once the train arrives as the Train conductor would then personally walk in and hand over the boarding passes in person. For this reason by all means head out of the building to view the train coming into the station but don’t forget to head back in before the train leaves.

Another downside of this set up is that you can’t reserve a seat selection online when booking. If you really have a strong seating preference calling up the reservations centre well in advance of departure may however wield some success.

Seating and Amenities on the Northern Explorer Train

Seating and amenities are definitely a strong point on the Northern Explorer train service as you should rightly expect with the steep price tag that comes along with the journey. In total there are 7 sections to the Northern Explorer train which consists of an open air viewing carraiage right at the front followed passenger cars A and B then a cafe car another passenger car D and finally the luggage car. At the front of each of the four main carriage’s there is wheelchair accessible as well.

There are a total of 198 seats on this class with seating in ‘Scenic Class’ being perfectly comfortable and with decent leg room. Most seats are forward facing in a 2-2 configuration and come equipped with an airline style folding seat back table making it easy to bring a meal or drink back to your seat to enjoy. There are also four seat booths with a twin set of seats facing each other with a large table in the middle which are ideal for families or small groups traveling together.

Another great feature in the train’s carriage’s are its almost sealing to floors windows which allow for excellent viewing wherever you are located on the train. There are even sky windows facing up from the overhead luggage racks which if had been full wold have kind of defeated their purpose however. Luckily very people had often to put any items up there!

Whilst there is no setback entertainment screens, stream to your own device entertainment options or even wifi available on this service equipped at each seat is however a vacuum sealed headrest which can be plugged into the seats headphone jack which provides excellent geo-activated commentary along the journey. This commentary was thorough and provided an excellent overview to all the geographical features along the route, the history of the region, settlemnts and the railway along the way and the local Maori cultures as well. There are also seemingly dated overhead monitors located throughout the carriages which generally act as a moving map to the train’s journey and conveying other important information.

Perhaps my favourite part of the train was its open air viewing carriage located at the front of the train’s passenger carriages and right behind the diesel locomotive hauling it! Whilst it is a very simple viewing carriage that is standing room only to be honest I probably spent more time out here then at my seat despite the 8 hour journey. This is the place to be (and arrive early for) to get the best views and to take photos and video as the train crosses through Tongariro National Park and across the many spectacular viaducts later in the journey.

Being in the open air and hearing the power of the diesel locomotive pulling the train provides for quite a thrill as well, although when travelling through tunnels do expect some diesel fumes which may be bothering to some! Also be sure to bring a warm jacket as it’s likely to be rather cool out there most of the year especially when travelling through the higher altitudes of up to 800m through the Central Plateau, it might even be snowing in winter!

Food and Beverage Service

The Northern Explorer train service has a dedicated restaurant car located between passenger car’s B and D. It is the only place that you can purchase food and beverage on board which must be purchased directly at the cafe. There is no direct service to seat although there may be exceptions for those with mobility issues. The cafe car largely remains open throughout the journey opening a short time after leaving Auckland and closing around 45 minutes out of Wellington. In the cafe car there is also a small seating area which is reserved for anyone dining or otherwise you are my than welcome to take your purchase back to your own seat.

In the cafe car you’ll find four different main hot meals in addition to selection of pies, pastries, sandwiches, cakes and snacks which were also available for purchase during most of the journey. There is also a good range of of drinks and alcoholic beverages including premium NZ craft beers and some lovely local wines. Luckily barista made coffee is also available.

Despite being touted as a premium experience due to the train’s seep price tag, all of the hot food options needed to be heated by the staff at time of ordering Prices for the mains (which ranged from $19.5-$21.5) were closer to restaurant prices although were pre packaged nonetheless meaning they were probably pretty expensive for what you got. Pastries, snacks and alcoholic drinks seemed to be more typical to airline prices with beers and wine usually ranging from $9-$11.

EFTPOS is available on the train however as it runs on a mobile internet connection it frequently runs out of range. Whilst cafe staff are happy to start at Tab which you can repay at the end when the train comes back into range, to save yourself the hassle its probably worth bringing some cash for this journey.

Crew and on board Service

Although direct passenger engagement from the crew throughout the journey was rather limited due to non-included food and beverage every interaction I did have with the crew was nonetheless really friendly. Crew at the cafe were also really friendly as well and took the initiave to allow people to start Tabs when the train’s EFTPOS system constantly went out of range. The train conductor(s) also gave us a heads up before we reached all the route’s key georghrrical marvels and kept us up to date more generally with the train’s journey which was much appreciated.

Arriving in Wellington

We arrived into Wellington’s grand looking train station a few minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time of 6.25pm which was really impressive considered this train has earned a reputation over the years for often running significantly late. During late autumn and winter this train service unfortunately does arrive into Wellington after dark and I think this could be avoided if the train departed Auckland just 30mins to 1 hour earlier during the winter months to allow for the journey to be completed fully in daytime hours.

That being said we were treated to quite amazing sunset views as the train tracked parallel to the Kapiti Coast towards the end of the journey which was really quite amazing in itself so it’s not all a dissapointment.

Wellington’s train station is absolutely beautiful first built in 1937 also acts as one of the capital’s most recognisable icons. Once off the train the station is located very centrally located in the CBD near the waterfront ensuring most hotels are within easy walking distance. Overall a great arrival experience arriving into Wellington early on this busy Saturday evening.

Summing up: Does the Northern Explorer deliver on all its hype?

Overall today’s journey with the Northern Explorer was an absolutely amazing experience and absolutely one of mt highlights of my most recent trip to New Zealand. The train journey despite being far from the quickest way to get between Auckland (or Hamilton) and Wellington is an excellent way to see a huge amount of the North Island’s stunning landscape in just a day whilst also travelling between cities whilst your at it. The experience is comfortable too in terms of seating and the outdoor viewing carriage works a treat for photographing the stunning countryside.

The journey however is not cheap coming in at $189 and to be totally honest it’s probably not the best value for money even despite the trip being really enjoyable. The lack of any complimentary food or beverage is probably a little disappointing for the price paid too and the lack of not being able to select a seat online is a shame. Unfortunately the price tag whilst probably what tourists would be willing to pay coupled with a very long journey time doesn’t make taking this train an attractive option for locals travelling between Auckland and Wellington. Unfortunately it is not any cheaper leaving from Hamilton which is 2.5 hours less journey time. It is a shame that the Main Trunk Route Line is not better patronised with a more affordable publicly operated service perhaps without all the bells and whistles that could perhaps operate overnight to provide better use of the train line for the general NZ public!

Be sure to check out the Aussiejetsetter channel for a video review of the whole experience which will also showcase the full stunning natural beauty of the North Island countryside along the way. You can find the review embed at the top of this review otherwise feel free to click on the link here!