trucking company Mainfreight celebrates 150 years of NZ railways

‘The synergies of improved service from KiwiRail coupled with our investment in new rail-served depots, benefits our customers, the economy and our country, through reduced carbon emissions and removing freight from congested roads’
– Don Braid, Mainfreight 2013 Annual Report

New Zealand's first operational railways date from 1863 and this year there are various events around the country marking the 150th anniversary, although the great cavalcade of locomotives that highlighted the 125th anniversary in 1988 is notably absent.

Mainfreight in NZ is primarily a trucking company, but is distinctively different from the the others in making wide use of the railway network - this brings it into line with the situation in America where the railroads and truckers view each other as partners; as an example BNSF says that 3 of its top 10 customers today are trucking companies.

And are we producing something to mark the 150th anniversary, you ask.  Yes, a book on memorabilia plus unpublished photos from the past 150 years is in preparation for release in December.