Schedule for tomorrow's funeral of Maori Queen

Private funeral proceedings for the Maori Queen begin in the Waikato early tomorrow morning.

Close family members will say their goodbyes to Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu in a private ceremony where her casket will be closed.

She will then be brought back out on to Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia for the ceremony to name her successor at 8.30am.

At 10.30am the funeral procession begins and Dame Te Ata's coffin will be placed in a waka for an hour-long journey along the Waikato River to Taupiri Mountain, the sacred burial site of Waikato ancestry and Maori royalty.

Burial is scheduled for 11am.

State Highway 1 between Ngaruawahia and Huntly will close at 10am tomorrow for about six hours .

A special train service will be departing Auckland's Britomart station at 7.40am and 7.58am, arriving in Ngaruawahia at 9.30am and 9.52am.

They are scheduled to return to Auckland at 5.40pm and 5.50pm.

A free shuttle service will be provided tomorrow between Turangawaewae and Taupiri Mountain.

Carparking will also be provided on farmland.

- NZPA