Liveries

Livery list

Currently in use

DBR 1254 in International Orange
International Orange
Also known as: Fruit Salad
Introduced: 1978

New Zealand Rail livery. Orange with a white number on the side of the locomotive.

DC 4352 in Cato Blue
Tranz Rail Blue
Also known as: Cato Blue, Tranz Metro (for passenger carriages)
Introduced: 1995

Introduced by Tranz Rail in 1995. Some locomotives in this livery had the Tranz Rail logo applied over the top of the old New Zealand Rail logo.

DC 4317 in Tranz Rail Black
Tranz Rail Black
Also known as: Bumble Bee
Introduced: 2001

Introduced by Tranz Rail for railway crossing safety campaigns.

DC 4951 in MAXX livery
MAXX Blue
Introduced: 2002

First introduced when the ADL DMUs were refurbished. Applied to most Auckland suburban diesel rolling stock. Locomotives still wearing this livery in service today no longer have the MAXX logos.

DBR 1295 in Toll livery
Toll Rail
Also known as: Corn Cob, Skippy
Introduced: 2004

Introduced when Toll purchased Tranz Rail in 2004. All locomotives in the Toll livery have KiwiRail patches over the Toll logos, and the livery is progressively being replaced with the KiwiRail livery. At present, this livery is only worn by some shunting locomotives.

DL 9573 in KiwiRail livery
KiwiRail
Introduced: 2008

Current livery. Introduced after purchase of Toll Rail by the Government in 2008. Two major variations on this livery exist; the earlier version with a horizontal separation between the red and grey sections, and the current version with a vertical separation.

AM 836 in AT livery
Auckland Transport
Introduced: 2013

Current livery. Auckland Transport's livery as applied to the AM class electric multiple units. Visually, the livery is an evolution of the older MAXX livery used on diesel trains, with a darker shade of blue.

DFB 7077 with Te Huia logo
Te Huia
Introduced: 2021

Current livery. A variant of the KiwiRail livery with the Te Huia logo on the locomotive's nose.

Past liveries

DX 5143 in New Zealand Rail livery
New Zealand Rail
Introduced: 1991

A short lived livery. A slightly darker shade of blue compared to Cato Blue.

ADB 778 in Transperth livery
Transperth
Worn by: all Auckland DMUs, until 2002

No longer used on any DMU in Auckland, this livery was used on the ADK and ADL DMUs during their time in Perth, and then in Auckland up to 2002-2004.

DM 27 in Midland Red livery
Midland Red
Introduced: 1920s

Used by the DM electric multiple units for most of their lifetime. Some preserved DMs are still in Midland Red.

DC 4093 in Kiwi Lager livery
Kiwi Lager
Introduced: 1987
Worn by: DC 4093

Used for the short-lived Kiwi Lager Express ski train. DC 4093 remained in this livery until an accident in 1992.

DA 1431 in New Zealand Govt. Rail livery
New Zealand Government Railways
Introduced: 1950s
Worn by: early diesel and electric locomotives

A red-all-over livery with white stripes on each end of the locomotive. This was the livery worn by all diesel and electric locomotives (except the DX class) up until International Orange was introduced in 1978.

DX 2626 in Clockwork Orange
Clockwork Orange
Also known as: Popsicle, Tropical
Worn by: all DXs

This livery was applied to the DX class when first introduced.

DF 6006 in Flying Tomato
Flying Tomato
Worn by: some DFs and DCs

A simpler and cheaper version of the International Orange livery.

DC 4346 in Tasman Forestry
Tasman Forestry
Worn by: DC 4346, DF 6133

A brown livery with the Tasman Forestry logo on the long hood.

Images originally published by nzrailphotos.co.nz are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence.
DX 5143 in New Zealand Rail, DX 2626 in Clockwork Orange and DC 4346 in Tasman Forestry sourced from
www.kiwibonds.com and allows for public use of images for non-commercial use.
Image of ADB 778 in Transperth livery taken by James Pole and released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.
Image of DM 27 in Midland Red taken by Matthew Bell-Hills and released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International licence.
Image of DF 6006 in Flying Tomato taken by GPS 56 and released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence.
Photo of DC 4093 in Kiwi Lager livery taken by Michael Tolich, used with permission.