When the line was completed, the Picton Express left Christchurch at 8.25am and reached at Picton at 4.35pm, over 2 hours faster than the previous links. During holidays it ran 6 days a week, but otherwise the coal-saving timetable was on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. From 13 February 1956, the RM class 88 seater railcars were introduced to New Zealand and they were placed on a 6 days a week service between Christchurch and Picton, cutting times to 7 hours, with 34 stops, and then, in 1959, 6 hours 40 mins, with 23 stops. The railcars were converted for locomotive haulage from 5 December 1977 and the journey reduced to 6 hours by 1982.