 The first train ran on 9 December 1991, running a morning service from Tauranga to Auckland and afternoon service from Auckland to Tauranga, taking 3½ hours.The times changed in 2000 to enable the introduction of the Waikato Connection commuter service between Hamilton and Auckland.In 2001, it was announced that the service was too uneconomic to continue, and the last service was on 7 October 2001.