{"story":["Before 1962 rail struggled to compete with ships for business between the North and South islands. Goods sent by rail had to be unloaded from wagons into a ship on one side of Cook Strait, then unloaded again and put back into wagons on the other side before resuming their journey. Working cargo this way was very slow. NZHistory notes that once delays caused by weather, labour shortages and industrial disputes were counted, a coaster seldom moved more than 300 tonnes of cargo a day at Wellington. In 1945 the South Island main trunk line had been extended north to Picton. Picton's first dedicated ferry was the Union Steam Ship Company's Tamahine of 1925, famous for her permanent list and unsettling corkscrew motion in heavy seas. In her last year of service the Tamahine carried 60,000 passengers, 11,000 cars and 14,000 tonnes of cargo.","The government's answer was the Aramoana, the first Railways Department roll-on roll-off rail and car ferry. Her name is a Māori word meaning 'sea pathway', and the letters GMV in front of it stood for 'government motor vessel'. She was the last ship built by William Denny & Brothers of Dumbarton, on the River Clyde, and she arrived from Scotland on 26 July 1962. Te Ara describes her as a 4,000-ton ship. NZHistory dates her entry into service between Wellington and Picton to 11 August 1962; Wikipedia gives 13 August. Cars and rail wagons could now be driven on and off the ferry at each end of the crossing, and Te Ara says her huge stern door let the crew load and discharge cargo in about an hour. In 1962 she made one voyage a day except Sunday, leaving Wellington at 10 a.m. and Picton at 2.20 p.m.","In NZHistory's words, her influence was immediate. In her first year the Aramoana carried 207,000 passengers, 46,000 cars and 181,000 tonnes of cargo. An Ōamaru flour miller could now load a wagon at his mill siding and have it sent straight through to a Napier bakery, reducing pilfering, damage, cost and time. Railways staff could load more cargo in an hour than a coaster had moved in a day. Many people had expected a ship run by the 'people's railway' to be cheap, and NZHistory sums up the public reaction as 'great service, shame about the price'. The Railways Department's 1963/4 financial report showed that the ship contributed $1.07 million to Railways' working profit of $1.077 million.","More rail ferries followed. The similar but slightly larger Aranui joined the Aramoana in 1965. On 10 April 1968 the Aramoana was the largest of the rescue vessels when the inter-island ferry Wahine foundered at the entrance to Wellington Harbour. By 1974 there were four government-owned rail ferries. With freight forwarders buying space on rail wagons at bulk rates and selling it to small clients, the railways could undercut shipping with a faster, cheaper and more flexible service. By the mid-1970s the conventional coastal trade was almost dead, and with it ports such as Ōamaru, whose last ship called in 1974. The overnight Wellington–Lyttelton ferry service ended when the Rangatira withdrew in 1976, beaten by rail ferry and airline competition. The Aramoana was rebuilt in Singapore in 1977 to carry 800 passengers, and in 1983 she and the Aranui were replaced by the significantly larger Arahura and sold to a Saudi Arabian company the following year.","Te Ara says the Aramoana ushered in a transport revolution, linking the road and rail systems of the two main islands nearly seamlessly for the first time. Since the 1960s five other Cook Strait ferries have carried the 'Ara' prefix: Aranui, Arahanga, Aratika, Arahura and Aratere. In NZHistory's description, these ships and their later competitors have formed a 'floating bridge', linking the two islands' road and rail networks in a truly national transport system. Te Ara calls the ferries a linchpin of New Zealand's transport system and notes that they provide the only way to travel by car down the length of the country. Picton has remained the South Island terminal: after studying a new port at Clifford Bay, near Lake Grassmere, the government decided in November 2013 to stay with Picton."],"sources":[{"title":"Picton ferry Aramoana enters service","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/picton-ferry-aramoana-enters-service","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Cook Strait rail ferries","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/cook-strait-rail-ferries","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"1962 – key events","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-1960s/1962","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Cook Strait rail ferries – 'The floating bridge'","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/cook-strait-rail-ferries/floating-bridge","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Cook Strait rail ferries – Sailing into the 21st century","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/cook-strait-rail-ferries/twentieth-century","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Ferries – Cook and Foveaux strait ferries","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/ferries/page-3","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"Shipping – Post-war boom","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/shipping/page-8","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"Railways – Main trunk lines","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/railways/page-2","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"GMV Aramoana","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMV_Aramoana","publisher":"Wikipedia"}]}