South Island Main Trunk Railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Main North Line between Picton

Picton, New Zealand

Picton is a town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. It is close to the head of Queen Charlotte Sound near the north-east corner of the South Island. The population was 2928 in the 2006 Census, a decrease of 72 from 2001...

and Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

and the Main South Line

Main South Line

The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad 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...

between Lyttelton

Lyttelton, New Zealand

Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....

and Invercargill, running down the east coast of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, are sometimes together referred to as the South Island Main Trunk Railway (SIMT). Construction of a main line running the length of the east coast began in the 1860s, not completed all the way from Picton to Invercargill until 1945.

Construction

Main South Line

Construction of the Main South Line began in 1865 when the Canterbury Provincial Railways

Canterbury Provincial Railways

The Canterbury Provincial Railways were an early part of the railways of New Zealand. Built by the Canterbury Provincial government to the broad gauge of 5 feet 3 inches , the railway reached most of the Canterbury region by the time the province was abolished in 1876...

began work on a 1,600 mm (5'3") broad gauge

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

line south from Christchurch

Christchurch

. It reached Rolleston

Rolleston, New Zealand

Rolleston is a town in the Selwyn District of Canterbury, New Zealand.It is located next to State Highway 1, 22 km south-west of Christchurch on the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. The town uses the slogan "The Town of the Future"...

on 13 October 1866 and Selwyn a year later. A number of routes south were considered, and the one chosen was a compromise between a proposal to build a coastal line through fertile territory and a proposal to build an inland line to achieve easier crossings of rivers such as the Rakaia

Rakaia River

The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand...

. However, construction had to be postponed as the Canterbury Province

Canterbury Province

The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. On the east coast the province was bounded by the Hurunui River in the north and the Waitaki River in the south...

government was low on funds, and it did not restart until Julius Vogel

Julius Vogel

Sir Julius Vogel, KCMG was the eighth Premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works...

announced the central government's "Great Public Works Policy".

The "Great Public Works Policy" placed a high priority on the completion of the Main South Line. At this time, New Zealand accepted narrow gauge as its national rail gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

, but Canterbury was permitted to extent its broad gauge as far as Rakaia

Rakaia

The town of Rakaia is seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the township are the country's longest road bridge and longest rail bridge, both of which cross the...

- although it did so on 2 June 1873, it converted its entire network to narrow gauge by 6 March 1876. Further south, the Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

and Port Chalmers

Port Chalmers

Port Chalmers is a suburb and the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, with a population of 3,000. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast from Dunedin's city centre....

Railway was opened on 1 January 1873 as the first railway in the country to adhere to the new national gauge. Although the final portion of this line became the Port Chalmers Branch

Port Chalmers Branch

The Port Chalmers Branch was the first railway line built in Otago, New Zealand, and linked the region's major city of Dunedin with the port in Port Chalmers...

, most of it was incorporated into the main line northwards and construction progressed through difficult terrain towards Oamaru

Oamaru

Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...

. South of Dunedin, work was progressing on a link with Invercargill; a line between Invercargill and Gore

Gore, New Zealand

Gore is a town, surrounding borough, and district in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand.-Geography:The Gore District has a land area of 1,251.62 km² and a resident population of...

was opened on 30 August 1875 and a line between Dunedin and Balclutha

Balclutha, New Zealand

Balclutha is a town in Otago, it lies towards the end of the Clutha River on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about halfway between Dunedin and Invercargill on the Main South Line railway, State Highway 1 and the Southern Scenic Route...

was opened two days later. Construction to link these sections faced more construction challenges than the earlier work had, and accordingly, the rate of progress slowed.

Over the next three years, the line between Dunedin and Christchurch was completed; Christchurch and Timaru

Timaru

TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...

were linked on 4 February 1876, followed by Oamaru

Oamaru

on a year later, and the difficult section between Oamaru and Dunedin was finally completed on 7 September 1878. All that remained was the Balclutha-Gore link, which was opened on 22 January 1879, completing the Main South Line.

Main North Line

Construction of the Main North Line was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand's history. Through the 1870s, work on a line from Christchurch to northern centres in Canterbury

Canterbury, New Zealand

The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...

was undertaken, with a line through Kaiapoi

Kaiapoi

Kaiapoi is a town in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, located close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River, and approximately 17 kilometres north of Christchurch....

, Rangiora, and Amberley

Amberley, New Zealand

Amberley is a town located in the Hurunui District of north Canterbury, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 approximately 50 km north of Christchurch...

reaching Waipara

Waipara

Waipara is a small town in north Canterbury, on the banks of the Waipara River.It is at the junction of State Highways 1 and 7 60 kilometres north of Christchurch...

in 1880, and at the other end, a line linking Blenheim

Blenheim, New Zealand

Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...

and Picton

Picton, New Zealand

opened in 1875. From this point, however, construction became delayed by disputes over proposed routes. Regional actors sought to protect their interests, and some sought a coastal route via Parnassus

Parnassus, New Zealand

Parnassus is a town located in the Canterbury region's Hurunui District on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the north bank of the Waiau River and the 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings gave its usually resident population as 900, a decline of 6.8% or...

and Kaikoura

Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 1 180 km north of Christchurch.Kaikoura became the first local authority to reach the Green Globe tourism certification standard....

, others favoured an inland route to Blenheim with a branch from Tophouse

Tophouse

Tophouse, also known as Tophouse Settlement, is a rural locality in the Tasman District of New Zealand's South Island, some 8 km northeast of Saint Arnaud. It is named after a hotel established in the 19th century to service drovers transporting their sheep between Canterbury and Marlborough...

to Nelson

Nelson, New Zealand

Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....

, and there was even a proposal to use this route as the trans-Alpine line (as the Midland Line

Midland Line, New Zealand

The Midland line is a 212 km section of railway between Rolleston and Greymouth in the South Island of New Zealand. The line features five major bridges, five viaducts and 17 tunnels, the longest of which is the Otira tunnel.-Freight services:...

's route was yet to be chosen), linking Waipara with Reefton

Reefton, New Zealand

Reefton is a small town on New Zealand's West Coast region, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the valley of the Inangahua River. State Highway 7 passes through the southern part of the town, and State Highway 69 runs north to connect to State Highway 6...

and then connecting to Nelson and possibly Blenheim via a line up the Buller Gorge

Buller Gorge

The Buller Gorge is a gorge located in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. The Buller River flows through the deep canyon between Murchison and Westport. Land Information New Zealand lists two sections for the gorge, Upper Buller Gorge and Lower Buller Gorge. State Highway 6 runs...

.

The people of Marlborough

Marlborough, New Zealand

Marlborough is one of the regions of New Zealand, located in the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a region and a district, and its council is located at Blenheim. Marlborough is known for its dry climate, the picturesque Marlborough Sounds, and sauvignon blanc...

favoured a coastal route and began work south, while in Canterbury, work initially began on an inland route, with Waipara linked to Culverden

Culverden

Culverden is a small town in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. The 2006 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings had a usually-resident population of 420. This represented an increase of 7% or 27 people from the previous census in 2001.Culverden is located on State Highway...

in 1886. Although the line to Culverden was treated as the main line for decades, it eventually became part of the Waiau Branch

Waiau Branch

The Waiau Branch was a branch line railway in the northern Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. Known as the Great Northern Railway for its first few decades of life, the Waiau Branch was seen as part of a main line north but was ultimately superseded by a coastal route...

. At the start of the 20th century, work began on a coastal route northwards from Waipara, with the line opened to Parnassus in 1912. Construction then proceeded up the Leader River

Leader River

The Leader River is a river in the Hurunui District of the Canterbury region in New Zealand's South Island. It is a tributary of the Waiau River, which it meets near Parnassus...

valley as part of a somewhat inland route to Kaikoura via river valleys, but the start of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

brought a halt to construction and the 3 km of track laid beyond Parnassus was removed. The war also brought a halt to work at the northern end, with the coastal village of Wharanui

Wharanui

Wharanui is a small village located in Marlborough on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island between Ward and Kaikoura. State Highway 1 and the Main North Line railway both pass through the village. For over a decade, Wharanui was the southern terminus of a railway that ran from Picton...

established as the terminus of the line south from Blenheim.

The 1920s saw much indecisiveness and disputes over what route to take between Waipara and Wharanui. The Culverden line now ran all the way as Waiau and some work took place on a line to link Waiau with Kaikoura

Kaikoura

, but after a few kilometres of formation

Track bed

A track bed or trackbed is the term used to describe the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links....

was made, work came to a halt. The coastal route was then chosen and work had only just restarted when the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

began and brought about more severe delays. Fortunes improved in 1936 sufficiently to allow a resumption of progress, and a more coastal route out of Parnassus than the Leader Valley route was chosen. World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

brought even more delays, but this time, construction progressed through wartime and the Main North Line was finally completed when the northern and southern ends met at Kaikoura on 15 December 1945.

Operation

The South Island Main Trunk has been famous for its passenger services. In the days of steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

s, the South Island Limited

South Island Limited

The South Island Limited was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between 1949 and 1970. It operated between Christchurch and Invercargill via Dunedin, and in its heyday, it was New Zealand's premier express....

expresses were particularly famous; drivers of J

NZR J class (1939)

The NZR J class steam locomotives were a class of locomotive used in New Zealand. Following the success of the K class on NZR main lines, there was an urgent need for a modern, powerful locomotive capable of running over secondary lines laid with lighter rails. Thus a new "Mountain" 4-8-2 type...

and J^A

NZR Ja class

The NZR JA class were a type of 4-8-2 steam locomotive used on the New Zealand railway network. The class was built in two batches, with the second batch possessing some differences from the first...

class locomotives claimed to have broken the official New Zealand railway speed record on a section of track near Rakaia called the "racetrack". The Main South Line saw the last regularly steam-hauled expresses in New Zealand, with J^A locomotives hauling the Friday and Sunday night expresses until 26 October 1971. All other steam-hauled expresses were replaced on 1 December 1970 by the Southerner

The Southerner (train)

The Southerner was a passenger express train that ran in New Zealand's South Island between Christchurch and Invercargill via Dunedin along the Main South Line. It commenced service on Tuesday, 1 December 1970 and ceased on Sunday, 10 February 2002...

, which was hauled by DJ class

NZR DJ class

The NZR DJ class locomotive is a class of diesel-electric locomotive used in New Zealand. The class were purchased from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with a modernisation loan from the World Bank to replace steam locomotives in the South Island, where most of the class members worked most of their...

diesel-electric locomotives. This service was one of the most famous in New Zealand, but it ceased on 10 February 2002.

For many years, RM (Fiat)

NZR RM class (88 seater)

The NZR RM class 88-seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand, known unofficially as 'articulateds', 'twinsets', 'Drewrys' and 'Fiats'. They were purchased to replace steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains...

railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

s ran services on the Main North Line, but they were withdrawn during the 1970s. On 25 September 1988 the tourist-focused Coastal Pacific express began operating along the scenic route between Christchurch and Picton; it continues to operate as the TranzCoastal. In the summer of 1994-95, this service was augmented by the Lynx Express

Lynx Express (train)

The Lynx Express was a long-distance passenger train in the South Island of New Zealand that ran the length of the Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch...

, which was unsuccessful and not repeated in later years. Commuter services used to operate around major centres along the South Island Main Trunk, and many rural services also operated when country branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

s were operational, but the branch lines progressively closed during the 20th century and commuter services in the South Island ceased in the 1980s. Nowadays, the only Tranz Scenic passenger services on the South Island Main Trunk are the TranzCoastal and the TranzAlpine

TranzAlpine

The TranzAlpine Express is a passenger train operated by Tranz Scenic in the South Island of New Zealand. This trip is often regarded to be one of the world's great train journeys for the scenery through which it passes . The journey is one-way, taking about four and a half hours...

, which uses the short portion of the Main South Line between Christchurch and Rolleston before running along the Midland Line to Greymouth.

Freight services on both lines operated for many years as feeder services from rural districts to nearby major centres and harbours, rather than utilising long-distance services between the important cities. The first through freight from Christchurch to Invercargill did not operate until December 1970. During the 1970s and 1980s, patterns of freight haulage changed dramatically, with the last of the branch lines closing and an emphasis placed upon long-distance haulage. The South Island Main Trunk is now used to carry significant quantities of long-distance freight, and it connects with the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

via roll-on roll-off

RORO

Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers or railroad cars that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels...

ferries between Picton and Wellington. These ferries have allowed freight trains to be operated from Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

to Christchurch on a 30-hour schedule.

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