By Sid Banach, previous collections intern at Ashburton Art Gallery & Museum, 2023, through the Masters of Museum & Heritage Practice programme at Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka
We’ve all had the idea to travel around and explore places we have never been. Some of us take a car, some prefer to fly, and for others the best experience is taking a boat. However, for those who want to experience something magical, it is coasting along the railway tracks aboard a passenger train. When first implemented for travel from Christchurch to Invercargill, the Southerner passenger train was a booming success as people all across the South Island flocked to it. The Southerner operated for over 42 years, opening on 1 December 1970 and sadly coming to an end on 10 February 2002 when it was discontinued.
Railway innovations in the 1970s drove the market for trade, travel, and local industries along the path from Christchurch to Invercargill, affecting many of the settlements along the way, including our very own Ashburton. However, due to the expansion of other transportation services in the 1980s and 90s, and the rapid decline of resources, The Southerner’s costs began to outweigh the benefits of keeping it running. Coupled with the decrease in its usage by the public due to the increasing fare prices, the passenger train was being pushed to the wayside as buses and cars became more abundant from a cost-efficiency perspective. By 1974, when the Ashburton County Council petitioned for the Minister of Railways to change the railway infrastructure in Ashburton by lowering the railway, the proposal was rejected due to the high cost, the heritage value of the railway and station not being considered.
In 1988, the Ashburton Railway Station was sold by NZ Rail to private businessman Mr. Peter Hanson. With its acquisition, an attempt at putting new life into the railway stop was carried out by establishing several businesses, shops, and a café, which did help in the short-term. Unfortunately, as the Southerner continued to decline in use due to increasing prices and the push for alternatives such as driving by car or bus, most of these shops only lasted about 12 years before they all closed down or relocated away from the Railway Station around the year 2000.
The Southerner suffered from these factors even though the public desperately tried to campaign against decisions to close the passenger railway. They argued that there was popular demand for domestic travel from the people living on the east coast and that the railway’s tourism value was significant. The railway station and Southerner were doomed to disappear for Ashburton, as one could not exist without the other.
The Mid Canterbury Historic Places Trust launched a petition to save the Ashburton Railway Station from closure and demolition in October of 2002. The Trust believed that if the railway station had a long-term tenant, it would solidify its longevity in Ashburton. The reasoning they gave about the station’s significance was that it was directly connected to Ashburton’s past, highlighted the connection Ashburton had to the World Wars as soldiers would leave on the train, it had an historical link to the historic railway overbridge, and a connection to passengers near and far as a stop along the Christchurch to Invercargill line. The petition carried some weight, and by 2005, even though the Southerner was discontinued, plans to revitalize the Ashburton Railway Station were drawn up, gleaning some hope for the preservation of Ashburton’s railway heritage.
However, due to monetary issues and the lack of a passenger train for nearly a decade, by 2012 the Trust admitted defeat. By mid-2013, the Ashburton Railway Station, one of the most significant heritage buildings in Ashburton, which was in good condition, was demolished and replaced by shops. All that remains now as a relic of the past is the railway footbridge, which is thankfully due to be restored in the near future.
The significance of the Southerner persevered even against these odds as it was the most southern passenger train in the world, which gave it some renown. Even now, calls for the restoration of a passenger train or return of the Southerner are greatly desired due to a variety of reasons, such as alternative forms of sustainable travel, historical value, tourism, and connecting the Canterbury, Otago, and Southland regions. People had hoped for the Southerner’s return when post-earthquake funding was proposed in 2017, in order to revitalize the southern passage from Christchurch to Invercargill.
As of 2023, the strength in this revitalization proposal for the return of the Southerner has only been growing as public meetings on the subject are now being held in Dunedin and Oamaru, alongside Timaru and Christchurch. Maybe one day, Ashburtonians will be able to buy a ticket to board the Southerner for a return trip along the east coast, and our passenger railway connections to the larger Canterbury region will be reintroduced.
By Sid Banach
Unless otherwise stated, photographs and research materials on this page are owned by the Ashburton Museum & Historical Society Inc. This post was modified for this blog and was originally published in the Ashburton Guardian, 1 July 2023.
Ashburton Museum Blog 
Of course, the Southerner was just a ‘replacement ‘ for the passenger service that had been running for many years-probably started post-WW2- leaving from Lyttelton with passengers from the interislander every morning and heading north from Invercargill each day (might not have been on Sunday- can’t remember) I travelled on that service down south (and back) from Ashburton for holidays twice year or more. Refreshment stop at Ashburton around 10 am heading south – plenty of time get on board and sort out seating etc – stops at Timaru and Oamaru then late lunch stop at Dunedin early pm – then on to stops at Balclutha, Gore and got to Invercargill around 7 in the evening (someone can no doubt provide the precise times) Loco crews etc swapped somewhere around half way (maybe near Maheno?) where there was often a 15 min or so wait till the other train arrived -if you were there first. Palmerston- Dunedin was always the best and most interesting part of the trip- no doubt it still is. Only ever had one trip on the ‘Southerner’ down south and back- that was the summer the rails were badly buckled from heat and we were stopped somewhere south of Ashburton (was it near Hinds?) till things were sorted then moved at walking pace for some time – think we got back to ChCh an hour or 90 mins late. Having a bar on board was REALLY useful!
LikeLiked by 1 person