Train trip to mark 100-years of North Island line

A steam train will travel from Wellington to Auckland next week to celebrate 100 years of the main trunk line.

The train will include an original carriage used in the first trip in 1908.

The trip, departing the capital on August 6, will take three days to complete.

Carriages and locomotives from the era have been supplied by heritage operators in the Wellington region including Steam Incorporated (Paekakariki), Mainline Steam (Plimmerton) and Silver Stream Railway (Upper Hutt).

The original train trip was known as the `Parliament Special' and was the first passenger train to travel from Wellington to Auckland.

It left Wellington at 10pm on August 7, 1908, carrying 200 passengers including 44 parliamentarians, and arrived in Auckland at 6.30pm on August 8.

Temporary tracks were laid for the trip.