Naming passenger trains in Aotearoa New Zealand: Bird-inspiration!

Source: Geoff Norman, Buller’s Birds of New Zealand

Many of the world’s most iconic passenger trains have well recognised names. Think of the Orient Express in Europe, the Flying Scotsman in the UK, the Ghan in Australia, and the Hiawatha in the United States.

In children’s stories, trains can also have names. Thomas the Tank Engine and his bigger friend Gordon have entertained children since the 1940s.

In my lifetime, longer distance New Zealand passenger trains have also had names. Although most of them no longer operate, they included the Kaimai and Bay Expresses, the Silver Fern, and Silver Star, the Blue Streak, and the Southerner. Some did not have official names, like the ‘cabbage train’, an overnight train that once ran between Christchurch and Picton.

Now there are just three tourist trains, Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific, and TranzAlpine. The only long distance, non-tourist passenger trains still running are the Capital Connection, operating between Palmerston North and Wellington, and Te Huia, which connects Auckland and Hamilton. Trains run between Wellington and Masterton, but they are not named.

Ships always have names. Some passenger boats linking the North and South Islands had Te Reo names, for example the Rangitira, and the ill-fated Wahine. When ferry services started linking Wellington and Picton, all those boats operated by KiwiRail and its predecessor New Zealand Railways, have had Te Reo names.

The current three KiwiRail ferries are Kaitaki, Aratere, and Kaiārahi. Earlier boats included the Aramoana, Arahanga, Aranui, and Aratika.

Even some KiwiRail tunnels have had names other than simply reflecting where they are located, for example the Kaimai tunnel. On the Main Trunk Line out of Wellington, between Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki, there are five tunnels with the names: Pukerua, St Kilda, Sea View, Brighton, and Neptune.

Te Huia is the first passenger train with a Māori name.

Te Huia was selected as the name for the Hamilton-Auckland train by the Waikato Regional Rail Governance Group (representing Hamilton City Council, Waikato District Council, Waikato Regional Council, Tainui Iwi, Waka Kotahi NZTA, and the Ministry of Transport). They had started to discuss possible names at the commencement of the carriage refurbishment project, with no alternative gaining majority support. This was until the Regional Council Chair came up with 'Te Huia’, which he had discussed with the two Māori regional councillors. The group unanimously liked the name but agreed to hold formal discussions with Tainui’s Iwi governance council to check they were supportive - which they were.

Huia birds were prevalent in the Waikato in the 1800s and earlier and were last seen there in the 1890-1910 period. They were regarded as an iconic bird, with distinctive features - and a name that was easy for all to pronounce and would stick in people’s minds. However, giving an extinct bird name to the train is somewhat ironic, given it has itself staved off many attempts at extinction.

The Future is Rail campaign seeks to revive passenger rail across Aotearoa New Zealand. This gives us an opportunity to either rename – or return to former names – of these trains.

One of our first trains onto the tracks will be a night train between Auckland and Wellington. The obvious native bird name for this is Te Ruru.

But what about native bird names for other revived train trips? These include:

Christchurch to Dunedin and onward to Invercargill.

Auckland to Tauranga.

Wellington to Napier.

Wellington to New Plymouth.

Hamilton to Rotorua.

As part of its vision, Forest & Bird is involved in climate advocacy, of which low emission transport is a necessary component. We suggest that in a future Bird of the Year competition, Forest & Bird ask the public to match their favourite birds to the trains that we hope to see connecting New Zealand’s towns and cities once again.