This morning (Monday 31st July 2023) saw the first Capital Connection service from Palmerston North to Wellington operated by ‘new’ interim rolling stock. This is in the form of ex-British Mark 2 carriages, previously repurposed as interim rolling stock for Auckland suburban service and now re-re-purposed as new regional rolling stock.
While it has been 51 years since Aotearoa had actual new long-distance passenger rolling stock (in the form of the Silver Star railcars introduced in 1972), the refurbished carriages for the Capital Connection, which are nearly identical to Te Huia, make for a very high quality regional train product.
While Aotearoa does a good job in providing comfortable regional trains, the same cannot be said for the frequency of the service they offer. $26 million has been invested in the interim Capital Connection rolling stock to give exactly the same lack of service, running just one peak train per direction, five days a week and not at all at weekends, public holidays and for an extended shut down over the Christmas New Year period.
