The Interislander is a road and rail ferry service across New Zealand's Cook Strait, between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island. It is owned and operated by state-owned rail operator KiwiRail. Three roll-on roll-off (RORO) vessels operate the 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) route, taking three hours to complete the crossing.Interislander was started in August 1962 by KiwiRail's predecessor, the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR).