The Northern Explorer is in the last 30 minutes of the day long journey from Wellington as it passes through Te Mahia on tracks shared with Auckland Transport trains.
Train 125 from Whangarei crests the 2% grade from New Lynn to Avondale in Auckland's western suburbs. Distant Waitakere Ranges parkland has over 100 hiking trails.
A port transfer shunt from Wiri to port passes through Orakei. The railway crosses the Orakei Basin which is an old crater, one of over 50 volcanoes dotting the Auckland urban area. The locomoti... (more)