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Railway lines were initially constructed by the provincial governments of New Zealand from 1863 onwards. New Zealand's first public railway was opened in that year, running the short distance between Christchurch and the wharf at Ferrymead and built by the Canterbury Provincial Railways. [10]
A variety of gauges was used, including the New Zealand standard 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm). Typical bush trams were more lightly constructed than ordinary rail lines and had steeper gradients and sharper curves. With the low speeds that were commonplace, rolling stock and locomotives were generally built to lighter standards than main-line vehicles.
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin. It is one of the most important railway lines in New Zealand and was one of the first ...
Initially, lines went from the main town and port to the rural hinterland, but the line between the cities of Christchurch and Dunedin (part of the Main South Line) section of the South Island Main Trunk Railway opened in 1878. The New Zealand Railways Department was established in 1876, and the rail network was then run by the central ...
It is a major link in New Zealand's national rail network and offers a connection with roll-on roll-off ferries from Picton to Wellington. It was also the longest railway construction project in New Zealand's history, with the first stages built in the 1870s and not completed until 1945.
It includes Railway lines in New Zealand that can also be found in the parent category, or in diffusing subcategories of the parent. Pages in category "Closed railway lines in New Zealand" The following 67 pages are in this category, out of 67 total.
Members of the Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand: Railway museums, heritage lines, societies, clubs, trusts, etc., in New Zealand. This also include model engineering clubs and narrow gauge railways.
The first railway in New Zealand was the short Ferrymead Railway from Christchurch in 1863 (see NZ Rail 150), but laying of new lines was slow until the Vogel Era when some thousand miles (1,600 km) of track was laid in seven years from 1874. Lines were initially basic, with improvements made as traffic increased (in the American pattern).