Coverage of the the latest passenger rail casualty in New Zealand (we’ve already lost Tauranga - Auckland, Rotorua - Auckland, Napier - Wellington and Christchurch - Invercargill has been enlightening. The Overlander will be axed from the end of September. Most commentators have focused on the end to end journey from Wellington to Auckland, when in fact the service also serves 15 other destinations. And while the end to end journey time at 12 hours is bone-wearyingly long, intermediate trips are more reasonable.

Whatever the merits of keeping the service, it is worth bearing in mind that it serves more than the two end points. Now if only Toll Rail had marketed it that way!

Update: the Overlander has been saved … sort of. It will run three days a week until the Summer when it will revert to a daily service… death of a thousand cuts, or a blocking move to stop other operators running a service on the tracks that are now owned by the Government… time will tell.