South Island Main Trunk Railway
The railway line South Iceland Main Trunk Railway is the main rail line on the South Island of New Zealand.
It starts at the ferry port of Picton and leads along the east coast via Christchurch and Dunedin to Invercargill in the south of the island. The section from Picton to Christchurch is referred to as Main North Line and the section from Christchurch to Invercargill as Main South Line. The construction of this line began in the 1860s, but a continuous train service is possible only since 1945.
The total distance is 949 km long, single-track, electrified and not invested in the track width of 1067 mm used in New Zealand.
Architectural History
Main South Line
The construction of the southern section in the province of Canterbury started in 1865 in the broad gauge of 1600 mm. The section from Christchurch to Rolleston was completed in 1866, Selwyn was achieved a year later. Due to financial difficulties then paused and continued construction of the Rakaia was not achieved until 1873. Once in New Zealand, a decision was taken to build railways only in the track width of 1067 mm, the distance created so far has been to 1876, rebuilt on the new track.
Further south, a first portion between Dunedin and Port Chalmers in 1873, already created in the new gauge. The complete Main South Line to Invercargill could finally be opened until 1879.
Main North Line
During construction of the Main North Line, it is probably just around the time the longest construction project in the history of New Zealand.
From 1870 onwards, was built from Christchurch to the north, Rangiora and Waipara were achieved in 1880. 1875 the section between Picton and Blenheim was opened on the north end. From then on, stopped the construction, as it was not agreed by the selected lines. Some stakeholders favored a direct coastline, others more of a connection in the rear and more even saw in this range an approach to the crossing of the Southern Alps. 1912, the section from Waipara was extended to Parnassus. The outbreak of the First World War brought the construction work but again to a halt.
In the 1920s, finally won by the route along the coast, through the Second World War, there was again disabilities of construction. However, this could be completed on 15 December 1945, when the two halves met in Kaikoura route.
Train services
In the days of steam operation, there were through trains between Picton and Christchurch and Christchurch and Invercargill, were utilized steam locomotives of the series J and Yes. On the section at Rakaia the track was very just traced out, there arrived the trains the highest speeds in the New Zealand rail network. 1971 Steam was set to 1970, the Southerner train service was introduced ( pulled by a diesel locomotive of the DJ series ). This train was very popular, but was discontinued in February 2002. From the late 1950s to the 1970s operated on the Main North Line DMUs by Fiat. Since 1988 there is a specially designed for tourist train between Picton and Christchurch, initially this was called the Coastal Pacific and was later renamed TranzCoastal. In the larger urban centers along the route there were long urban transport, there were also regional transport services for the development of the branch lines. However, most branch lines were shut down in 1980, also disappeared, the compounds of urban transport.
Nowadays, the only people links on this stretch of TranzCoastal and the TranzAlpine on the section between Christchurch and Rolleston are.
Freight transport, there was a long time on the track to connect rural areas to the urban centers and ports, since the closure of many branch lines of freight consists primarily of continuous trains with longer track. In Picton is connecting to the ferry to Wellington. By ferry travel times for freight trains between Auckland and Christchurch 30 hours are possible today.