Media release

KiwiRail celebrates the 150th anniversary of rail

KiwiRail has launched a month-long nationwide celebration to mark the 150th anniversary of rail in New Zealand.

To commemorate the occasion, a travelling exhibition showcasing rail in New Zealand will visit 12 locations around the country in September and October. ‘Keeping NZ on the Move: The Exhibition Express’ will feature four individually-themed educational containers hauled by a locomotive representing rail’s journey from 1863 to today, KiwiRail’s scenic journeys and contribution to New Zealand tourism, rail safety, and the vital role KiwiRail plays in moving New Zealand’s economy.

The 12 ‘Exhibition Express’ Open Days will start on 29 September and move through the country until 26 October. They will include free family fun, prizes and giveaways, as well as the ‘Great KiwiRail Locomotion Challenge’ where participants will be asked to throw down the gauntlet and get as many people as possible at each Open Day to dance the locomotion.

The first railway line to carry passengers connected Christchurch to the Heathcote River at Ferrymead. The seven-kilometre line was officially opened on 1 December 1863. Until Sir Julius Vogel – the “father of railways in New Zealand” – came on the scene, rail reached out only to Lyttelton in the east, Ashburton in the south, Cust in the north and Sheffield in the west. The first North Island line, built in 1868, went just five kilometres, from Kawakawa to the Bay of Islands.

Vogel’s scheme envisaged a multi-million dollar spend-up for more than 3,000 kilometres of line in both islands linking major centres throughout the country. In 1870, New Zealand had just 74 km of railway. Ten years later, the network was nearing 2,000 km.

“Over the last 150 years, New Zealand rail has evolved from humble beginnings in Ferrymead to the world-class business it is today. Today, KiwiRail moves approximately 17.5 million tonnes of freight throughout New Zealand each year,” says KiwiRail’s Chief Executive Jim Quinn.

“The 150th anniversary commemorations acknowledge and celebrate the incredible history of rail in New Zealand and how far it has come – from the earliest railways built by provincial governments to connect townships to brand new state-of-the-art passenger carriages, electric commuter trains and new DL locomotives that run across a 4,000 kilometre network.

“Rail has an important role in determining New Zealand’s economic future and with a $4.6 billion investment plan KiwiRail is delivering on that future. We are really looking forward to celebrating our past, our present and our future in rail with New Zealanders over the next month,” Mr Quinn says.

The first Open Day takes place on Sunday 29 September at The Strand in Auckland. The ‘Exhibition Express’ will then be travelling to Hamilton, Tauranga, Stratford, Palmerston North, Wellington, Greymouth, Invercargill, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru and Christchurch.

For rail stories spanning the last 150 years and more information on the anniversary events, please visit: www.150yearsrail.org.nz. 

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