North Island Main Trunk Railway
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The North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) is the railway line connecting Auckland and Wellington, the two major cities of New Zealand's North Island. The line is built to the standard New Zealand gauge of 1067 mm (3 ft 6 in). By convention, a train going to Auckland is referred to as an "up" train, and a train heading away from Auckland as a "down" train. The line includes the famous Raurimu Spiral.
History
Construction
Construction of the line begun on 15 April 1885, when Wahanui Maniopoto paramount chief turned the first sod near Te Awamutu. The line was completed 23 years later, on 6 November 1908; the last spike was ceremoniously driven by the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward. A 'last spike' monument stands at the location near Pokaka.The Wellington - Longburn (near Palmerston North) section of the NIMT was built by a private company, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company and acquired by the New Zealand Railways Department in 1908
Electrification
The Wellington - Paraparaumu section of the NIMT is electrified at 1,500 V DC. This electrification is used only by Tranz Metro for its urban passenger services. There are currently proposals to extend the electrication to Waikanae, further north. The section between Palmerston North and Hamilton was converted to 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric traction during the 1980s as one of the then National government's "Think Big" energy development projects.Motive power
The line has always received the most powerful NZR locomotives. When the line opened in 1908, the powerful X class steam locomotives were introduced to handle heavy traffic over the mountainous central North Island section. 1972 saw the introduction of the DX class locomotives. With electrification the DX class were re-assigned to the South Island and replaced by the EF class electric locomotives, introduced in the late 1980s. These locomotives only operate under the electrification between Palmerston North and Te Rapa (north of Hamilton).Passenger services
In 1971, New Zealand Railways introduced the Silver Star service, a luxury night sleeper train. The service was not ultimately economically viable, and was withdrawn in 1979. Much more successful was the Silver Fern, a daytime railcar service, which was withdrawn in 1991 and replaced by The Overlander, operated by Tranz Scenic. Auckland - Pukekohe suburban services (operated by Veolia) also used the line, as part of Eastern Line suburban services.
The Overlander passenger train stops: (North Island Main Trunk Railway) |
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| Auckland (Britomart) | Middlemore | Papakura | Pukekohe | Hamilton | Otorohanga | Te Kuiti | Taumarunui | National Park | Ohakune | Marton | Feilding | Palmerston North | Levin | Paraparaumu | Porirua | Wellington (Railway Station) | |
See also
External links
- [The Overlander] - the current passenger service.
- [Raurimu Spiral]
- [NZ Engineering Heritage North Island Main Trunk line page]
| New Zealand Railway Lines
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