New Zealand's Epic Coastal Pacific Train - Earthquakes, Wildlife & Stunning Views

Añadido: 2026-06-02

[00:00:01]Look at this. The view is unreal. I'm traveling up the coast of New Zealand.

[00:00:06]>> We have the best seat in the house back here. A world of natural wonders [music] and nightmares where the ground tears up tracks. When that fault moves, it'll be a major earthquake and it's overdue.

[00:00:19]Giant machines fight back and no one ever gives up.

[00:00:23]>> We're a great big railway family. To keep the trains running. This is the Coastal Pacific, a mighty ride through New Zealand on a railway that was ripped apart and rebuilt from the rubble. An epic journey across an unforgettable landscape.

[00:00:46]Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island, is where my journey begins.

[00:00:52]It's paradise sitting on a seismic time bomb.

[00:00:57]Every year over 15,000 earthquakes strike this country. Most are barely noticeable.

[00:01:04]But some move mountains and bury tracks.

[00:01:08]The train I'm about to ride was shut down for [music] almost 2 years. It took an army to get it running again. You can really feel the Kiwi spirit of resilience and determination. And those are key traits when you live in one of the most seismically active regions on Earth.

[00:01:27]It's 5:00 in the morning at Waltham train yard.

[00:01:34]Maintenance engineer Graham Elam is prepping the Coastal Pacific for action.

[00:01:38]Grumpy? I wear these especially for this shift. It's something to do with the 4:00 getting [music] out of bed business.

[00:01:45]>> [laughter] >> I'll just shine the torch on everything that passes me from the locomotive right down to the luggage van. And that just ensures that everything's turning, there's no foreign squeaking, banging, rubbing.

[00:01:59]Roll all this clean 700.

[00:02:06]Veteran driver Mike Hussey guides the train to the station.

[00:02:09]>> Have a line of sight right down the platform, all clear.

[00:02:17]So, there is your train outside.

[00:02:18]Boarding should be in about 10 minutes.

[00:02:20]>> Okay, thanks very much. Thank you.

[00:02:23]Rachel Martins is our onboard service manager today.

[00:02:28]A couple of things we have to check in the luggage van. [music] 12 ft, 10 ft. Uh the reason that's important to do all the checks is checks is basically to make sure that the train is running safely.

[00:02:39]Stop. Um that was the attaching the locomotive to the front of the train. Sometimes it's a bit of a shunt.

[00:02:48]Morning. Hi.

[00:02:52]Good morning. How are you?

[00:02:53]>> Hello. Good. How are you? Yeah. Thank you. Thanks very much.

[00:03:02]Here we go. Off to Picton. Yes. See you tomorrow. Bye.

[00:03:07]So, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome on board your Coastal Pacific bound for Kaikoura, Blenheim and Picton.

[00:03:16]Over the next 6 hours, we'll travel up the coast of New Zealand's South Island.

[00:03:21]From Christchurch, we'll ride through the lush Canterbury Plains, stopping in the small town of Rangiora. Reaching the coast, [music] the line runs a razor's edge between steep hills and the Pacific Ocean to Kaikoura.

[00:03:35]Then it's on to Blenheim in the heart of New Zealand's celebrated wine region, ending at the small town of [music] Picton.

[00:03:45]Yeah, well, I've been on the job now for 40 years. It's a job that, you know, you can't afford to make make mistakes. Usually they have dire consequences. As we move through Christchurch, Mike is on full alert.

[00:04:00]It's a busy time. Everybody's either going to work or going to school.

[00:04:05]Well, you sort of got to expect the unexpected. People will either run across, cycle across, or drive across in front of you.

[00:04:14]He's got his eye on this white truck.

[00:04:17]It's racing toward a crossing just up ahead. Because the train's coming up behind and if they're not aware of the train, you know, they're liable to [music] whip right across, you know.

[00:04:27]It stops safely, but Mike wasn't taking any chances. When you've been doing the job for a while, you read those situations.

[00:04:35]But on this seismically active island, there are other situations that just can't be predicted.

[00:04:42]This simple task could save lives. So, these are all our passengers' boarding passes.

[00:04:48]So, we do a head count. The reason being that should there be a large-scale accident like another earthquake or something like that, so that people actually know how many people are actually on the train. So, if the train needs to be rescued for any reason.

[00:05:05]Locomotive engineer 700 from TranzAlpine receiving Mike. Locomotive engineer 700 receiving. Yeah, I've got your head count here. It is a 93, 93. Over.

[00:05:15]Head count 93. Roger.

[00:05:21]The early morning sun is casting a golden light. And I went ahead to the observation car for a better look.

[00:05:29]So, this is our opening viewing platform.

[00:05:32]This is incredible. Yeah, it is. We have the best seat in the house back here.

[00:05:36]>> Definitely. Go, yeah, it's beautiful.

[00:05:38]It's very gold. Yeah.

[00:05:40]People are always commenting on how lucky we are and how amazing our views are. Our office with those, they call it. Wow. Yeah, it's nice.

[00:05:51]I'm catching this incredible view from the very back of the train.

[00:05:57]Up at the front, the Coastal Pacific is fitted with a New Zealand DXR class locomotive. It weighs 104.5 tons, is 2.8 m wide, 3.7 m high, and stretches >> [music] >> 18.1 m long.

[00:06:15]Today, the 3,150 horsepower locomotive will haul a luggage car, passenger carriage, cafe car, two more passenger cars, and the observation car.

[00:06:33]Yeah, just up ahead, one of my boys owns a house next to the railway line. So, is that an interesting I normally toot when I go past.

[00:06:41]And that's his house there.

[00:06:49]This is Rangiora station. It's our first stop on the trip and and one of only a few stations on the line.

[00:07:00]This is my local local town. This is where my family do their shopping.

[00:07:07]Good morning. Yep. So, there's no way of printing any tickets.

[00:07:10]>> Oh, it's okay.

[00:07:11]Yeah, I think I've got you here. Keep going. Don't see your tickets. Perfect.

[00:07:15]3A and B are your seat numbers. Thank you very Thank you.

[00:07:18]Rachel works with a tight schedule.

[00:07:20]She's got passengers that need to catch a ferry at the end of the line [music] in Picton.

[00:07:26]You guys board right away when you're ready.

[00:07:28]Roger. Anyway.

[00:07:37]Mike is on the lookout through a dicey stretch.

[00:07:44]Get out of the way.

[00:07:49]He's only got two wires. Two wires to hold all that sheep in. New Zealand has about 5 million people and 27 million sheep.

[00:07:59]You've got areas where you've got farms on both sides of the railway line. And when farmers are moving stock across the railway line, they need to get permission from train control.

[00:08:12]The North Line cuts right through Tim and Sue Andersons' farm where they've been breeding prize-winning Perendales for 50 years.

[00:08:20]Are you ready, Don?

[00:08:21]>> Yes, I'm fine. All under control.

[00:08:26]Today, they've got to get 400 sheep across the tracks.

[00:08:31]During the peak ram selling season, we probably move them across seven, eight times a day. It's a massive job, but they've got help. Your dogs coming?

[00:08:41]From Sam and Jed.

[00:08:45]Way Sam. Way Sam.

[00:08:48]When sheep feel threatened, they instinctively bunch together and follow each other away from danger.

[00:08:57]Sam and Jed will chase them across the rail line once Tim [music] confirms it's clear.

[00:09:02]Back in the past, we didn't ring train control. We used our ears, but the trains are bigger and faster now and they won't stop on this line.

[00:09:10]National Train Control Center Operational Inquiries Line. He calls in eyes from train control, some 300 km away on the North Island.

[00:09:19]>> Locomotive engineer 926 at Clinton.

[00:09:22]Tim Anderson, Clevedon 156 here. I've got a couple of stock movements on at the moment. How are you situated for the next hour, please? Yep, no worries.

[00:09:30]You're up for the next hour. No worries.

[00:09:35]He's got a short window to get all 400 sheep across.

[00:09:48]Half have cleared the track.

[00:09:53]But then, something goes wrong.

[00:10:00]They turn around and stop dead on the line.

[00:10:04]With a train barreling towards the farm, this is the last thing they need.

[00:10:16]I'm speeding through New Zealand farmland on the Coastal Pacific.

[00:10:22]Up ahead, there's a major traffic jam on the line.

[00:10:31]Tim and Sue Anderson's sheep have literally stopped dead on the tracks.

[00:10:36]Why they have stopped is a mystery.

[00:10:41]And with our train barreling closer, the Andersons need to do everything they can to get them off the line.

[00:10:52]They whistle Sam and Jed into high gear.

[00:11:11]>> [laughter] [music] >> Just outside Waipara, farms change to rolling hills for as far as the eye can see.

[00:11:30]For our driver Mike, they're a test [music] of skill.

[00:11:38]Over these hills, Mike has [music] to keep the Coastal Pacific at a steady 90 km/h so that the carriages don't bang together.

[00:12:01]At the same time, [music] a state-of-the-art suspension system smooths out the bumps for passengers getting their lattes.

[00:12:09]>> [music] >> When a car travels over uneven ground, the undercarriage tilts, [music] activating airbags that inflate or deflate to keep the train level.

[00:12:29]Inspecting the airbags is a critical task for maintenance.

[00:12:38]>> [music] >> Every 6 to 8 weeks, the airbags on both sides of the carriage are tested.

[00:12:53]They need to be leveled and balanced to provide the optimum ride.

[00:13:06]He checks the air pressure and the height.

[00:13:29]So, this is the Hurunui River bridge.

[00:13:32]So, that's the Hurunui River below us and we're just traveling on the bridge above it.

[00:13:38]Right after the bridge, there's a sharp curve.

[00:13:46]Mike needs to reduce speed to a strict 50 km/h.

[00:13:57]This line has seen the deadly effect of too much speed in two horrific tragedies.

[00:14:11]It was 1948, just 3 years after the opening of the line. As the speeding train derailed, it split open like a tin can.

[00:14:29]The next happened [music] in 1966 when an overnight train took a curve too fast. It jumped off the rails and careened into a tunnel.

[00:14:50]The 36-year-old driver was killed.

[00:15:00]These tragedies remind Mike why he can never let down his guard.

[00:15:07]We're 2 hours into our journey and we're coming up to a dazzling sight.

[00:15:13]Right now, we're crossing over the Wairau River bridge. Look at this. It's absolutely beautiful and this is actually the longest bridge on the entire line. You can see the Spencer mountains in the background. It's incredible that we're actually crossing here because in 2016, this bridge was severely damaged by a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

[00:15:40]The violent shaking started just after midnight.

[00:15:55]Over 20 fault lines ruptured, releasing as much energy as 400 atomic bombs.

[00:16:03]It snapped trees like toothpicks and crumbled mountains. Close to 1 million cubic meters of debris plummeted down, cutting off entire [music] communities.

[00:16:14]150 km of track were completely demolished.

[00:16:19]This vital line, responsible for moving 43,000 people a year and 1 million tons of freight, was destroyed.

[00:16:43]To rescue the line, an army of 1,700 launched into action, clearing over 100 landslides.

[00:16:59]Blasting loose rock from cliff faces, then washing down the rubble with 152 million liters of water.

[00:17:13]Installing [music] 50,000 square meters of protective mesh along the line.

[00:17:20]Repairing 60 bridges and 20 [music] rail tunnels.

[00:17:34]2 years after the destruction, the train makes its triumphant return.

[00:17:53]The trains are running again, but the quake's aftereffects still threaten the line.

[00:18:05]The earthquake tore vegetation from the mountains that tower above the tracks.

[00:18:10]Now, heavy rainfall can lead to disastrous landslides.

[00:18:16]To guard the line, engineering geologist Darcy Broughton scours the Kaikoura cliffs from above.

[00:18:34]He needs to make sure there aren't any more big loose rocks that could hop over this barrier and take out the train.

[00:18:46]He takes photos to track any dangerous movement over time.

[00:18:57]If he spots a problem area, it can be removed by muscle or explosion.

[00:19:06]>> [music] >> This site is deemed safe.

[00:19:15]But, [music] further up the line, they haven't been as lucky.

[00:19:22]Another landslide has buried the track.

[00:19:27]Crews are rushing against time, bringing in the big guns to clear the mess. Halfway through my amazing ride on New Zealand's Coastal Pacific.

[00:19:38]And this is a moment I've been waiting for.

[00:19:41]We have reached the coast. Look at this, the view is unreal. You got the South Pacific Ocean on this side of the train and sheer cliff faces on [music] the other.

[00:19:50]morning, ladies and gentlemen. We've just spotted a pod of dusky dolphins on the coast side near the right hand side.

[00:19:57]Deep water trenches and plenty of food make this area of Kaikoura quite popular with those dolphins. I was just blown away by the scenery, the stuff that we're seeing, the wildlife, the nature. It's amazing.

[00:20:10]The Coastal Pacific doesn't have [music] to share these tracks with other passenger trains, but work crews are still clawing back from the quake.

[00:20:29]So, ladies and gents, we just have a work site ahead of us. Once that work site's been cleared of its track workers, we'll be on our way again shortly.

[00:20:38]There's still a three track works today, work sites to do. So, it does it can cause delays. Hopefully, today we'll be in at 1:15 scheduled time.

[00:20:48]On the North Island, in the [music] capital city of Wellington, controller Ainsley Crawford calls the shots. There is always time precious.

[00:20:57]Obviously, crucial that [music] they meet the ferry in time for their travel across the Cook Strait. 736 control.

[00:21:04]She's got the massive responsibility of keeping the train and work crews safely apart. We've got a lot of very hard working gang is out [music] there who are slaving away all day trying to make the track safe and make repairs, etc. We have to fit them in between the trains, which sometimes is quite a challenge.

[00:21:26]Roger that. [music] Thank you. Heavy inside clear at Fern on cancelling warrant number 178. [music] We made a brief unscheduled stop for a work crew up ahead to clear, but it gives us more time to take in the landscape, including this rock right here along the coastline.

[00:21:43]We've stopped over the Papatea fault.

[00:21:46]During the 2016 quake, more than 20 faults ruptured.

[00:21:51]This one pushed the ground up in some spots by as much as 8 m. Really gives you a sense of the force of [music] that quake.

[00:22:00]The white rocks that you can see out there were once the ocean floor.

[00:22:04]These rocks were all thrust out of the ocean by the earthquake at a rate of 3 km per second.

[00:22:12]Track maintenance engineer 700 from train manager receiving mark.

[00:22:16]700 from track warrant number 62.

[00:22:20]Further down the track, another crew races to get their work done ahead of the train. So, this was a washout that occurred when Hurricane Gita came along in January, sort of 18 months [music] after the earthquake.

[00:22:34]All the cracks up on the hillside that had been caused by the earthquake filled up with water, got to the point where the earth couldn't hold them, and it's all sluiced down here >> [music] >> and came across the railway line.

[00:22:49]Crews have already cleared 300,000 cubic meters of debris, but the tracks are still in danger. The ballast underneath is clogged with hardened mud. Now, when it rains, [music] water can pool on the tracks, threatening derailment.

[00:23:06]Well, I'm going to go and cross over and hop up.

[00:23:09]Fergus Coleman will use an undercutter to slice out the rock solid debris.

[00:23:20]So, we take out the mud, we put a new ballast, and then that lets the water go out, and that's when the track becomes proper.

[00:23:34]Oh, what's that?

[00:23:36]But the ground is fighting back.

[00:23:40]It's got a whole lot of stones stuck in behind the chain in the bar.

[00:23:46]With every second, the train closes in.

[00:23:50]Their scheduled time on the track is ticking away.

[00:24:00]Yo.

[00:24:01]Oh.

[00:24:02]You see it?

[00:24:05]That's what we didn't need.

[00:24:08]Perfect.

[00:24:10]I put a bit much pressure on it, and it popped the hose.

[00:24:15]So, that's hydraulic oil coming out. And if you have a look at the undercutter, you'll see it's got all the mostly new hoses on, apart from the one hose that we have just They need to call one in fast. We've blown another hose.

[00:24:34]Did it?

[00:24:38]Rubbish reception. I'll have to go and I'll have to go down there to make a phone call cuz the reception is rubbish.

[00:24:46]If this doesn't get fixed, we're in for a major delay. The Coastal Pacific is racing towards a remote work site where a big job has ground to a halt because of a small hose.

[00:25:01]You see it?

[00:25:03]Yeah, just popped the hose. Got a chance coming out and make a new one.

[00:25:08]Fergus Coleman is in luck. He's found someone with the part.

[00:25:12]We'll get that one taken off, and get the boys to take it down, and I'll meet halfway. Equipment stuff breaks down. It's machinery.

[00:25:23]It's like livestock. If you've got livestock, you've got dead stock. If you've got machines going, then some point you will have no machines going.

[00:25:29]The more machines you have, the more chance there is of something breaking.

[00:25:33]In Wellington, on the North Island, Roger and clear South Bay track warrant number 179 now cancelled.

[00:25:41]Control keeps close watch on the approaching train, making sure the crew on the ground is safe. We've got the tamper currently working down here.

[00:25:49]They're fixing up a section of track that was washed away by a decent sized flood.

[00:25:55]45 minutes later, the precious hose arrives. With a bit of luck, we'll get this bit here done before train comes.

[00:26:15]This time, in the battle of machine versus Mother Nature, the undercutter wins.

[00:26:22]Slicing away the compacted debris, making way for fresh porous ballast.

[00:26:31]Give that one and that one another squeeze when you get a bit more ballast in.

[00:26:38]It's tamped into place so there are no gaps beneath the sleepers.

[00:26:44]Now, we've got about 5 minutes to get those last sleepers done, get them to sweep the rail, and then hop off, and then we'll go down another one.

[00:26:55]So, we're cutting it reasonably fine.

[00:26:58]With little time to spare, they finish the job. 12323 control.

[00:27:04]Going to control 10351 here. Just advising we are all off and clear.

[00:27:09]Roger.

[00:27:10]So, now we go and have a cup of tea and something to eat, and then we wait for the train to come.

[00:27:22]I love that thing. Do you like the flight?

[00:27:25]Yeah.

[00:27:26]Not my best batch, but No.

[00:27:28]That's what I did it for, to get it back in shape.

[00:27:33]So, ladies and gents, we're not too far away now from our next stop of Kaikoura.

[00:27:38]3 and 1/2 hours into our journey, we pull into the tourist town of Kaikoura.

[00:27:52]Kaikoura's a popular spot to jump off the train. This area's got incredible hiking, surfing, rafting, you name it.

[00:27:59]I'm getting off here to do some ocean kayaking, and hopefully meet up with some local residents.

[00:28:09]Cool. Back after the next one.

[00:28:12]Lovely. Cos you can jump on in. I'll slide you forward. All right.

[00:28:17]Happy and comfortable? Yep. Lovely.

[00:28:20]So, if we have a look around now, Tim, we can go nice and slowly. Come on in.

[00:28:25]But we've got seals all around. We've got seals over to our left, right out in front of us here.

[00:28:33]Big ones.

[00:28:36]New Zealand fur seals were nearly hunted to extinction. By the mid-1800s, their population was decimated.

[00:28:44]But they survived that threat.

[00:28:46]Then, the Kaikoura earthquake ripped their world apart.

[00:28:51]Can you imagine all of those rocks being 1 m lower?

[00:28:55]We wouldn't have been able to see these rocks just to the left of us here.

[00:29:00]Pull you out from the top.

[00:29:03]Teams rushed in to protect the seals from the threat of falling rocks and construction crews that were rebuilding the line.

[00:29:17]They used helicopters to herd them out of harm's way.

[00:29:23]Little hole. Yeah, see it down there?

[00:29:25]Yeah.

[00:29:29]hands one and come out. So, just keep track of water in it, all right?

[00:29:34]Every crevice was inspected for stragglers.

[00:29:40]Once the debris was cleared and the tracks and highway repaired, the seals returned to claim their place in the sun. Just make the conscious effort not to bump into them.

[00:29:51]Male fur seals can grow up to 150 kg.

[00:29:57]Oh, he's getting stuck in.

[00:29:59]That's Feasting on fish, squid, and octopus.

[00:30:05]This is phenomenal. We're getting so close and they don't seem phased at all.

[00:30:08]They're definitely the dominant ones around here.

[00:30:12]It's absolutely phenomenal.

[00:30:18]All right, that's good. Keep in mind All right, good boy. Yeah, it's a good boy.

[00:30:23]At Kaikoura station, our first [music] driver, Mike Hussey, ends his shift.

[00:30:28]Paul Fosket takes over in the cabin.

[00:30:30]Driver 702, [music] train manager, receiving you Rachel.

[00:30:35]Yeah, receiving.

[00:30:37]Righto, we're all sort sorted up [music] the front here now. Um He's keeping up something of a family tradition.

[00:30:44]Yeah, my grandfather was on the railways. I suppose in a funny way we are a bit of a railway family.

[00:30:51]Well, ladies and [music] gentlemen, good morning and much as welcome on board those passengers that have joined the train here at [music] Kaikoura.

[00:30:59]As we continue up the coast, we approach a tunnel with a unique design feature.

[00:31:06]Right now, we're in tunnel number 12.

[00:31:08]It's the only tunnel on the entire line with windows. You can see them going past right here. And they were originally built to help ventilate the tunnel when steam trains would barrel through it. No steam trains today and still gives us a bit of a view as we pass through.

[00:31:30]Up ahead, another tunnel, the oldest on the line, is about to be shut down.

[00:31:39]It's the biggest rail construction project in the country.

[00:31:47]The tunnel has got major fractures in it.

[00:31:51]At more than 100 years old, it's too small for modern trains.

[00:31:56]Drivers have to slow down to 25 km/h to pass through safely.

[00:32:02]It was damaged in the Kaikoura quake and patched back up. But it sits near an active fault line and is vulnerable to future shaking.

[00:32:12]The track keeps on moving all the time because the foundation of the track is no good anymore.

[00:32:19]So, here to the right, you'll be able to see once tunnel 21 is diverted, we'll come through a cutting through from the other side there.

[00:32:28]Closing the old tunnel and moving the track will make the line more earthquake resilient and faster.

[00:32:35]So, those guys are currently working exactly where the train is going to run, 5 m deeper than their current fit.

[00:32:42]So, everything that you see around here has been designed in order to take um >> [music] >> an earthquake and make sure that if there is an earthquake, there won't be any further damage to the railway.

[00:32:55]They've got to slice through a hill, moving heaps of earth to clear a path for where the new stretch of track will be laid. So, this is the main rail cut set up that we've got going on. So, there's 370,000 cubic meters coming out of here.

[00:33:11]It's a $35 million project.

[00:33:14]It'll be all right. I'll just take it up nice and slowly and I reckon it'll be all right.

[00:33:19]They've got just 21 months to get the entire job done.

[00:33:23]>> We've got six 40-ton multi-dump trucks running to four different dump sites.

[00:33:29]They're doing around 4,000 cubic meters a day, which is anywhere between 250 and 300 truck loads per day.

[00:33:39]So, yeah.

[00:33:41]They're trying to haul as much as they can before the rainy season. We have really great weather and we can try and get ahead and then all of a sudden you have a bad weather pattern and we're stopped. Rain is the enemy on this project.

[00:33:53]Yeah, and it will really pull you back in time, that's for sure.

[00:34:02]On this line, the fight against the clock never stops.

[00:34:07]Driver 700 [music] from train manager, you receiving?

[00:34:10]Yeah, receiving you Rachel.

[00:34:12]Are you able to give me an ETA into Picton?

[00:34:15]So, your expected arrival time is 13:37. Add another 3 minutes, I'll make it 1:40, sorry. Yeah, 1:40. Bit of a late arrival today.

[00:34:26]Righto, 1:40 estimated arrival. Thank you.

[00:34:31]Rachel keeps close tabs for her passengers that need to catch the ferry at the end of the line. All right, anywhere you go, you get the odd frustrated person, but um as long as everyone's kept up to date and communication is really good, works well. Um most people are pretty good.

[00:34:46]They're on holiday, so they're happy.

[00:34:48]Yeah.

[00:34:51]Next on the trip, we're heading through an alien landscape where something is [music] turning the water pink. From New Zealand's Coastal Pacific, we've turned inland toward a lake that's unlike any other in the country. Driver 702, train manager, receiving you Rachel.

[00:35:09]Yeah, receiving. [music] Yeah, we're on the downward slope toward Top Lake. We'll be there in the southern a minute.

[00:35:19]Spanning 1,400 hectares, these are the salt ponds of Lake Grassmere.

[00:35:30]During peak summer operation, seawater is pumped in at 40 tons per minute.

[00:35:36]Sun and wind evaporate the water, leaving salty brine behind.

[00:35:43]Eventually, a hard crust of salt forms.

[00:35:48]At harvest season, about 70,000 tons of salt are extracted.

[00:35:57]The bright pink color comes from algae in the water. And the algae starts its life green, but it turns that reddish pink from salt in the water. It makes the whole area look like another planet.

[00:36:11]A few minutes later, [music] the landscape changes quickly.

[00:36:15]From salt ponds to stunning wine country.

[00:36:25]We're crossing the Marlborough region right now [music] and this wine came from those vineyards right there. In fact, about 3/4 of the country's wine [music] comes from this region.

[00:36:35]And it's really good.

[00:36:37]New Zealand produces nearly 300 million liters of wine a year.

[00:36:42]Most of it for export to [music] wine lovers around the world.

[00:36:49]This is Blenheim and it's the final stop before the end of the line in Picton.

[00:36:53]It's known as one of the sunniest towns in all of New Zealand. They get almost 2,500 hours of sunshine per year. The area is framed [music] by mountains and that traps the heat. It's part of what makes it such an amazing wine producing area.

[00:37:09]The New Zealand sun is good for grapes, not so good for the tracks. They can be warped by its power.

[00:37:17]Heat can cause tracks to expand.

[00:37:20]As the temperature drops, they contract.

[00:37:23]Over time, this stress can cause sections to buckle and sometimes become too dangerous for train travel.

[00:37:35]Today, Steven Smith and his crew are taking the buckles out of this stretch of track.

[00:37:42]He's been here before as part of the team that saved the line after the Kaikoura quake. When I first came through here, it was looked like it'd been bombed. It was terrible. It was terrible.

[00:37:55]Devastating, the the effect of the earthquake. Community was effectively cut off.

[00:38:00]So, us setting up those roads and rail and and access to people was um really special, mate.

[00:38:07]Been proud to be part of it, to be honest.

[00:38:09]Now, the trains get in the way of Steve doing his job. There's a train coming through around 10:00-ish, so we need to get in and get out.

[00:38:17]The crew has cut a precise chunk from a stretch of the line that's been warped.

[00:38:21]>> The calculations work out. We don't have to take any more rail out.

[00:38:27]As they pull the two sides closer together with a hydraulic tensor, it'll straighten the track.

[00:38:34]It's a process. We work through it and there is no rushing this.

[00:38:37]And um make sure we've got all our ducks in a row, basically. Boys, [music] uh TJ and PJ are lining up the weld.

[00:38:43]Yeah, she's looking pretty straight.

[00:38:46]What we want.

[00:38:47]It's got to be lined up properly, otherwise you're going to have uh misalignments.

[00:38:54]The crew fits a mold around the gap in the track.

[00:39:06]>> [music] >> An intense chemical reaction inside this container creates molten steel that oozes into the gap below.

[00:39:15]Yeah, the thermite weld can get up to 3,000° C, so it's pretty warm.

[00:39:20]So, we've got to be very careful and have our wits about us.

[00:39:32]When it cools down, the excess is ground away.

[00:39:39]And And tracks are safe once again.

[00:39:44]We're still a little behind schedule, but there's enough buffer for people to catch the ferry.

[00:39:58]And then, Paul's made a mandatory stop at another work site.

[00:40:11]To drive through, he needs permission from the crew on the ground.

[00:40:16]They're the only ones that can confirm the line is clear.

[00:40:20]>> [music] >> But no one is answering his calls.

[00:40:43]Near the end of our journey, the Coastal Pacific has stopped in its tracks.

[00:40:54]>> [music] >> But Paul can't get a hold of him.

[00:41:08]He turns to train control for help.

[00:41:23]From train control on the North Island, Ainslie tries to connect with the work crew on the South Island.

[00:41:59]The Coastal Pacific is on its way again, racing to get passengers to the ferry.

[00:42:09]We've almost reached Picton, a charming seaside town surrounded by lush hills and built around a thriving harbor.

[00:42:18]This major hub links the North and South Islands by ferry. It's the end of the line. And Paul's home.

[00:42:37]There's one more treat for us.

[00:42:41]Crossing the wide Toi Viaduct, 16 m high, 133 m long.

[00:42:50]Paul reduces his speed on the approach, so that his brakes won't have to work as hard on the slope.

[00:43:00]The softer he rides them, the less noisy they are. That's good for his passengers and his home life.

[00:43:07]>> [music] [music] >> This has been an incredible journey, even for someone who's taken [music] it so many times.

[00:43:40]>> [music] >> I'm kind of sad for this journey to come to an end because I'd wanted to ride this train for years. The landscape, the engineering, all incredible. But to me, what's truly special about this train is the way that it really does embody the New Zealand spirit. To be able to ride it after the devastation of 2016 speaks to a country and a people full of drive and grit and determination.

[00:44:42]>> [music]