could stay in the same wagon the whole journey, reducing time and money. Aramoana took just 3 hours 20 minutes to cross Cook Strait, dramatically decreasing the time between the two islands for cars and passengers - Wellington to Christchurch travel time was reduced from 11 hours on the USSC ferry to nine hours by NZR ferry and road. The initial service was one sailing each way per day, Wellington to Picton in the morning and Picton to Wellington in the afternoon. The new service led to the decline of NZR's Rail Air service, which saw a dramatic drop in airfreight. The service was an immediate success, although it was criticised for high prices. At NZ£ 9 10s one way for a family of four and a car up to 4.04 m (equal to NZ$395 in 2016 dollars,) many people thought the service was overpriced for a state-operated service. Nevertheless, it was a cash cow for NZR - in the 1963-64 financial year, it contributed £535,000 of the NZR's £538,500 working profit. The service expanded with the addition of in 1966, in 1972 and in 1974. The Union Company responded to the competition by converting to take roll-on roll-off (RORO) road traffic and ordering a new RORO ship, . However, the resurgence was short-lived: on 10 April 1968, Wahine foundered at the entrance to Wellington Harbour during a storm, resulting in 53 deaths. By the time replacement ship entered service in 1972, competition from the Cook Strait ferries and increased competition from air travel, especially following the National Airways Corporation's introduction of the Boeing 737 in 1968, saw the Wellington-Lyttelton service become uneconomic. The Union Company withdrew in 1974, and after two years under the Ministry of Transport, the service was cancelled in September 1976. In 1982 Arahura joined the fleet to replace the ageing Aramoana and Aranui. The faster Arahura reduced the time across Cook Strait by 20 minutes to three hours. Initially, USSC operated the ferries on NZR's behalf. This changed in 1970 when the Minister of Railways, Peter Gordon, announced that NZR would be forming its own maritime service to operate the inter-island ferries. SeaRail and The Interislander When the New Zealand Railways Corporation (the successor to the Railways Department) was restructured in 1982, the service was renamed "SeaRail". In 1989, it was renamed the Interisland Line, and the service became known as The Interislander. The fleet