The Kaimai Express was a long-distance passenger train operated by the Tranz Scenic division of Tranz Rail (previously the New Zealand Rail Limited division InterCity Rail) that ran between the North Island cities of Auckland and Tauranga via Hamilton. It utilised the Silver Fern railcars and operated from 9 December 1991 until 7 October 2001.
In 1928, when the East Coast Main Trunk Railway was opened as far as Taneatua, its furthest extent, a passenger train commenced operating from Auckland to Taneatua on a slow 12 hour schedule. Within a year, this was upgraded to 10.5 hours and named the Taneatua Express. For much of its life, it ran only twice or thrice weekly.
In 1959, the Taneatua Express was replaced by a daily railcar service utilising 88 seater railcars, but due to negligible traffic to Taneatua, the new service operated only to Te Puke. This service did not last long, as the circuitous rail route struggled to compete with private cars. It was cancelled from 11 September 1967, and until 1991 the only passenger services that operated on the route were special excursions.
In 1980, Tauranga radio station Radio BoP started running an excursion train from Tauranga to Matamata and Rotorua via the newly opened Kaimai Tunnel under the name "Kaimai Express", using NZR locomotives and carriages from Steam Inc and Railway Enthusiasts Society. The excursions were repeated in 1981 and 1982.
In 1991, the Silver Ferns that operated the daily between Wellington and Auckland were replaced by the locomotive-hauled Overlander, and new routes from Auckland were found for the Silver Ferns, the Geyserland Express to Rotorua and the Kaimai Express to Tauranga. The latter train's name came from the Kaimai Tunnel through the Kaimai Ranges; this tunnel was opened on 12 September 1978 and provided a much faster and more direct route to the Bay of Plenty. This meant services operated substantially faster than the previous Taneatua Express and 88-seater railcars.
The first Kaimai Express ran on 9 December 1991 and consisted of a morning service from Tauranga to Auckland and afternoon service from Auckland to Tauranga. The train took roughly 3.5 hours in each direction.
In 2000 timings were changed to enable the introduction of the Waikato Connection commuter service between Hamilton and Auckland. The southbound service departed Auckland at 8:20am and reached Tauranga 3 hours 31 minutes later at 11:51am. The northbound service left Tauranga at 1:05pm and reached Auckland at 4:34pm, 3 hours 29 minutes later.
Consideration was made at one point by Tranz Rail to extend the Kaimai Express service to Mount Maunganui, but this did not eventuate.
The Kaimai Express did not make a profit, and in 2001 it was announced that the service was too uneconomic for Tranz Rail to continue. No subsidies came forth from the government to sustain its operation, and no private companies wished to invest in it. It operated for the final time on 7 October 2001.
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