Early Construction by the Provinces

More than one hundred years have elapsed since New Zealand's first public railway, worked with steam locomotives, was opened for traffic in the Canterbury Province. This pioneer line, 4 miles in length, extended from Christchurch to a temporary river port at Ferrymead. Opened on 1 December 1863 it represented the first stage in the construction of a railway from Christchurch to the deep-water port of Lyttelton – an ambitious scheme necessitating the driving of a 1 ½-mile tunnel through the high range of hills which separated the harbour from the plains. A remarkable feature of this project is that it was conceived as early as 1854, or within four years of the arrival of the main body of Canterbury settlers. The route of the railway, including the tunnel, was recommended in 1859 by George Robert Stephenson – nephew of the illustrious George – and work began at the Lyttelton portal in 1860. The headings of the tunnel met in May 1867, and on 9 December of the same year the Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway was officially declared open for traffic.

Financial Resources Inadequate

A similar necessity for adequate transport facilities prompted the settlers of Southland to embark on a programme of railway construction. Two lines were built: a 17-mile link between Bluff Harbour and Invercargill, opened on 5 February 1867; and an 8-mile, wooden-rail tramway between Invercargill and Makarewa, opened on 18 October 1864. Both these railway ventures strained the financial resources of the Southland Provincial Council, and contributed to its eventual bankruptcy.

As surveyed by the Auckland Provincial Council in 1863, Auckland's first railway was to extend from the Waitemata Harbour to Drury, 22 miles, with a branch to Onehunga, and was to cost £100,000. In 1866, when work came to a standstill, nearly all the money had been expended, yet only a few miles of formation had been completed. For six years the project lay virtually abandoned, until in 1872 it was revived by the General Government.

As early as 1863 the Otago Provincial Council had formed a Railways Department headed by a chief railway engineer. But it was private enterprise that built the first railway in Otago, a narrow-gauge line from Dunedin to Port Chalmers. This railway was purchased by the General Government in 1872.

With their limited resources, Wellington and the other provinces could not command the capital necessary for extensive railway construction. Moreover, from 1867 they were forbidden by the General Government to raise loans independently for railways and other public works, with justification, for the provincial record in the field of railway construction makes sorry reading. Indeed, it was providential that the provincial councils did not make better progress, for New Zealand narrowly averted being committed, like Australia, to the inconvenience and expense of trans-shipment at break-of-gauge stations. Fortunately, the General Government adopted the only course possible. It decided to build all railways on a national rather than on a provincial basis. And it adopted a uniform gauge of 3 ft 6 in.

Birth of a National Railway System

In 1870 the Colonial Treasurer, Julius Vogel, startled the colony with an ambitious and imaginative proposal to build a national network of light railways similar to those he had seen in North America. To carry out his proposal Vogel planned to borrow within 10 years the sum of £10 million and, to provide the necessary manpower, he envisaged large-scale immigration. To appreciate fully the magnitude of this scheme, one must bear in mind that New Zealand's European population at that time was only a quarter of a million. In the whole country there existed less than 50 miles of public railways. The “Vogel Railways” were intended to facilitate the settlement and development of land, and to provide outlets for the products of farm, mine, and forest. Of a uniform 3 ft 6 in. gauge, they were built as cheaply as possible, and were expected to produce revenue quickly. High operating costs, low speeds, and inconvenience in operation were accepted as necessary evils. The general plan was to complete and extend provincial lines already begun, and eventually to have a Main Trunk line running the length of each island, with branch lines into the interior. Political pressure brought to bear by local interests soon forced the Government to make many deviations from its original plan, resulting in piecemeal construction and expenditure that quite often was unwarranted.

Some of the earliest lines, such as Auckland-Mercer, Wellington – Lower Hutt, Picton-Blenheim, and Dunedin-Balclutha, were let on contract to the English firm of John Brogden and Sons. Others were constructed in short sections by local contractors. When allowance is made for the lack of mechanical equipment, the rapid rate of construction was remarkable. By early 1879, when the initial “boom” ended and a series of financial depressions began, 1,136 miles of railway were in operation – 339 miles in the North Island and 797 miles in the South, including a 390-mile main line from Lyttelton to Bluff. In all, more than 1,000 miles had been built since the launching of Vogel's public works policy.

During the depressions of the eighties and nineties railway construction continued fairly steadily, if somewhat haphazardly, and by the turn of the century there were 10 separate sections of line with an aggregate route length of more than 2,000 miles. In addition, a considerable number of short lines had been constructed by private interests under various statutes such as the District Railways Act 1877 and the Railways Construction and Land Act 1881. Nearly all these privately owned lines were eventually acquired by the Government. The largest and most successful was the 83-mile Wellington and Manawatu Railway, between Wellington and Longburn. Completed in 1886, it was purchased at the end of 1908.

The Railway System Takes Shape

In the first decade of the twentieth century the pattern of the national railway system became more clearly defined. Wellington had long been connected with New Plymouth and Napier, and Auckland with Rotorua and Thames. The North Island Main Trunk Railway, reaching into the remote and mountainous highlands of the King Country, was officially declared completed on 6 November 1908, when the northern and southern railheads met in the forest at a point almost midway between Auckland and Wellington. By far the greatest project of its kind ever attempted in this country, the 426-mile railway had taken more than 40 years to build.

Between the end of the First World War in 1918 and that of the Second World War in 1945, several other vitally important rail links were completed. Westland was connected with Canterbury in 1923 by means of the 5 ¼-mile Otira Tunnel; Whangarei was connected with the main North Island system in 1925, followed by Tauranga in 1928; New Plymouth gained a direct connection with Auckland in 1933; Gisborne and Dargaville were joined with other North Island lines in 1942; and the isolated Westport section became part of the South Island system in 1943. Two years later, in 1945, the Christchurch-Picton main line was completed, thus providing through rail communication between Queen Charlotte Sound and Bluff. The decade of the fifties saw the building of new railways to tap the vast exotic forests of the North Island pumice lands. An 18-mile branch line from Putaruru to Tokoroa and Kinleith was completed in 1952, and 50 miles of new line to serve the Tasman Pulp and Paper Co's. mills at Kawerau were brought into use between 1955 and 1957.

The trend in the immediate future would appear to be one of consolidation rather than expansion. Already many uneconomic lines have been closed. Thus New Zealand's railway route milage, which reached its peak of 3,558 miles in 1953, had been reduced to 3,254 miles by 1 April 1965. It could shrink even further before the next phase of construction begins.

Administration of Railways

The Government railway system of New Zealand is administered by a General Manager with headquarters in Wellington. Political responsibility for the operation of the system is vested in a Minister of Railways, who delegates to the General Manager such of his powers, duties, and functions as he considers necessary. The principal statute under which the railway service functions is the Government Railways Act.

The Railways Department is divided into branches, each responsible for a particular aspect of operations, and each controlled by an executive officer in Wellington to whom the General Manager sub-delegates certain of his powers. The principal branches, in alphabetical order, are: Commercial; Finance and Accounts; Mechanical; Publicity and Advertising; Refreshment; Road Services; Stores; Traffic; and Way and Works. Most of these branches are divided into districts and subdistricts for convenience in administration and operation. Traditionally, the Railways Department is responsible only for the working and maintenance of railways. New lines are constructed by the Ministry of Works in accordance with Government policy. When completed, such new lines, together with all capital liabilities, are handed over to the Railways Department.

During their 100 years of existence the railways of New Zealand have experienced many changes in the form of management. In the beginning, the Provincial Councils of Canterbury, Southland, and Otago each had a Railway Department under the control of a General Manager. When the General Government built its own railways, in Canterbury and Otago, it handed them over to the Provincial Councils for operation, but all other sections of line were administered by the Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department. With the abolition of the Provincial Councils, in 1876, all railways came under the control of the Minister for Public Works, although the actual administration was left to the Engineer-in-Chief, and through him to a Superintending Engineer.

In 1878 two Railway Commissioners were appointed, one for each island, but this divided control did not prove satisfactory and 1880 saw the appointment of a General Manager, with administrative responsibility for all opened railways. At the same time the functions of construction and operation were divorced, and the Railways Department came into being. Not until 1895, however, did the railways receive their decree absolute in the form of a Minister of Railways.

With two exceptions – the autonomous Railway Commission of 1889–94, and the quasi-independent Government Railways Board of 1931–36 – the railways have remained under direct ministerial control. Other periods of board or commission management were 1925–28 (Board of Management), and 1953–56 (New Zealand Railways Commission). No satisfactory alternative to a General Manager, working in close liaison with his Minister, has yet been evolved.

The Financial Structure

For the first 45 years of their existence as a self-administered undertaking, the railways of New Zealand were handicapped by an inadequate accounting system which made no provision for depreciation or other reserves. Between 1880, when the Railways Department was established as a separate entity, and 1925, when the financial system was modernised, railway net revenue to the extent of some £36 million was paid into the Consolidated Fund. This amount was almost exactly equal to the capital expenditure on railways during that period, but it was not regarded as a means of reducing the Railways Department's capital liabilities, other than interest due. At the close of the 1964–65 financial year, the capital invested in New Zealand Railways (including all subsidiary services) was £159.4 million. This amount, representing the cost of “open lines” and other assets, was made up as follows:

Interest charges on this capital investment amounted to £6,979,916 for the year.

Pattern of Earnings and Expenditure

By a recent decision of Government, it was decided to reduce the Department's liability by £70,000,000 as from 1 April 1965. It was appreciated that a substantial proportion of the book assets represented lines closed over the years and that other items had become obsolete as a result of technological and other changing circumstances. The new capital structure is allowing for such reductions and will do much to make the railways a progressive force in the national economy.

During the 10 financial years 1954–55 to 1963–64, the gross earnings of the Railways Department consistently exceeded £30 million, and for the year ended 31 March 1965 reached a record total of £42,658,753. Railway operations for the 1964–65 financial year earned £36.4 million, while road services produced a further £3.0 million. Revenue from subsidiary and miscellaneous non-operating sources came to £1.5 million.

Gross working expenditure of the Railways Department during the year ending 31 March 1965 was £41,473,846, leaving an operating surplus of £1,184,907. This represented an operating ratio of 97.2 per cent. By far the heaviest single item of expenditure was wages and salaries (61.6 per cent). Locomotive fuel, by comparison, accounted for only 4.1 per cent.

Generally speaking, railway operations in the North Island return a substantial working surplus. In the South Island, with its smaller population, lighter traffic, and shorter hauls, the annual working loss is almost as great as the North Island surplus. The losses in the South Island will undoubtedly be reduced by closing uneconomic branch lines, by the development of new manufacturing and processing industries, and by increased rail traffic caused by the operations of the Cook Strait ferries Aramoana and Aranui.

Gross Revenue

Expenditure

Comparison of Railway Operating Efficiency

*Actual railway operating and maintenance staffs, (excluding Head Office, Accounts, Stores, and Subsidiary Services) were: 1939, 21,757; 1964, 21,399.

Railway Staff

Traffic

In a normal year's operations New Zealand Railways carry nearly 50 million passengers by rail, road, and lake steamer. An analysis of passenger traffic during the year ended 31 March 1965 shows that 2.8 million passengers travelled by long-distance trains and railcars, and 22.3 million by suburban trains in the Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin districts. N.Z.R. Road Services carried 23.0 million passengers – 14.0 million on suburban omnibuses and a further 9.0 million on long-distance coaches.

The Cook Strait rail-road ferry vessel Aramoana conveyed 206,712 passengers between the North and South Islands, and on Lake Wakatipu the veteran steamship Earnslaw carried a further 25,432.

Long-distance rail-passenger traffic, which for many years fell steadily in the face of competition from private motorcars, bus services, and airlines, appears to be becoming stabilised as a result of improved services, concession fares, and more aggressive promotion. Much lost traffic could undoubtedly be regained, and new traffic won, with the aid of thoroughly modern equipment and facilities. A great deal has been achieved in recent years, but a considerable leeway has to be made up. For example, no new passenger coaches have been built for Main Trunk express trains since 1945, and some innovations such as air conditioning and on-train refreshment facilities, regarded as essentials in other countries, are not yet provided in New Zealand.

Like the railroads of America, the railways of New Zealand are primarily freight carriers. Indeed, more than 90 per cent of their operating revenue comes from goods and livestock traffic. During 1964–65 more than 11.2 million tons of freight and 6.6 million head of livestock were transported over an average distance of 119 miles. Raw materials for farms and industries – in the form of coal, lime, fertiliser, timber, and cement – constitute almost half the total freight traffic. Other important commodities are the products of the land – dairy produce, wool, grain, fruit, vegetables, and meat. Destined for both domestic consumption and for export, these commodities add up to over 1 ½ million tons a year. A sign of the times is the gradual falling off in the quantity of coal and grain carried by rail, and substantial increases in the tonnages of manures and timber. Timber has become one of the most important individual commodities handled, particularly since the establishment of pulp and paper mills at Kinleith and Kawerau. Whereas in 1946 timber represented only 7 ½ per cent of the total tonnage, in 1965 it represented 21 per cent.

Merchandise and general goods constitute approximately a quarter of the total tonnage. An important development in the transport of this class of freight has been the institution of the bulk-tonnage system, which is a means whereby large firms and forwarding agents, who can provide regular traffic in wagonload quantities, are encouraged to use rail transport for inter-city freight movements at adjusted or compensating freight rates.

Classification of Freight Traffic

Construction Problems

New Zealand is a country in which it has not been easy to build railways. It is a land of mountains and high hills, deeply scarred by river valleys, with an upthrust coastline that in many areas is notoriously unstable for civil engineering works. Even on the relatively few open plains, such as are found in Canterbury, railway builders have had to contend with swift-flowing, unpredictable rivers. More than 2,600 bridges and viaducts carry railway tracks over river and gorge. Some of these bridges are noteworthy for their length; others are relatively short but high. The longest railway bridges are in the South Island, over the sprawling, snow-fed rivers that cross the Canterbury Plains on their way from the Southern Alps to the sea. The Rakaia River bridge, for example, is over a mile in length. By comparison, the longest bridge in the North Island – across the south end of the Tauranga Harbour – is 1,400 ft long. On the other hand, most of the very high steel viaducts are located in the North Island, although there are some of considerable height on the Midland and Central Otago lines in the South Island. Highest of all New Zealand railway viaducts is the one over the Mohaka Gorge, on the line between Napier and Gisborne. It stands 312 ft above the river. On the same railway are four other viaducts ranging in height from 215 ft to 255 ft. In the mountainous central region of the North Island, the Main Trunk line crosses several spectacular steel viaducts, of which Makatote (258 ft) and Makohine (238 ft) are the highest, and Mangaweka (946 ft) the longest. The most outstanding of the South Island viaducts is the one at Staircase, on the Midland line. Spanning a tributary of the Waimakariri at a point where it joins the main river, the viaduct is 235 ft high.

Although the early railway builders did their best to reduce construction costs by avoiding tunnels wherever possible, they frequently found that tunnelling was cheaper than going round an obstruction. Even so, most of the tunnels driven during the nineteenth century were of very restricted profile, being just large enough to accommodate the small locomotives and rolling stock of the time. This legacy from the days of the “Vogel Railways” has seriously handicapped New Zealand railway operations, in that until recent years it was not possible to construct locomotives and rolling stock higher than 11 ft 6 in. above rail, or wider than 8 ft 6 in. In 1955 a start was made with the lowering of the track in certain small-bore tunnels on the North Island Main Trunk line, thus permitting the operation of American-built diesel locomotives with a maximum height of 12 ft 2 in. and a width of 9 ft 2 in.

At 31 March 1965 there were no fewer than 189 tunnels on the railway system, with an aggregate length of about 54 miles. Six of these tunnels are more than a mile long, and two, Otira and Rimutaka, are 5 ¼ and 5 miles long respectively. The Otira Tunnel, which pierces the Southern Alps and serves as a gateway between Canterbury and Westland, was started in 1908 but was not officially opened for traffic until 1923. Modern machinery and techniques enabled the slightly longer Rimutaka Tunnel to be built in much quicker time, the main contract taking little more than four years to complete. The Rimutaka Tunnel and its associated works, consisting of 14 miles of new line and one short tunnel, was probably the greatest railway improvement project ever undertaken in New Zealand. When completed, in 1955, it eliminated the notorious Rimutaka Incline, with its 1 in 15 grade, and costly, time-consuming haulage by special “Fell” locomotives and brake vans.

An even more ambitious project, necessitating 15 ½ miles of new railway and a 5 ½-mile tunnel, is now being undertaken to link the eastern Waikato district with the Bay of Plenty. Known as the Kaimai deviation, the new line will replace 35 miles of old railway in need of extensive and costly upgrading. The reduced haulage distances offered by the new route will not only enable valuable savings to be made in railway operating costs, but will also be of benefit to industry in that freight charges on goods to and from the Bay of Plenty will be reduced.

The highest elevation reached by a railway in New Zealand is 2,671 ft near Pokaka, on the North Island Main Trunk line. At four other points on the railway system, including two in the South Island, altitudes of more than 2,000 ft are reached. Gradients of 1 in 50 to 1 in 80 are common on main lines, and in a few localities on old main and branch lines grades as steep as 1 in 35 to 1 in 40 will be found. More than one-third of the 423-mile length of the Wellington-Auckland main line is graded at 1 in 100 or steeper.

The steepest gradients on main lines are 1 in 33 from west to east through the electrified Otira Tunnel; 1 in 35 on the Taranaki line north of Wanganui; and 1 in 35 on the Rotorua line where it crosses the Mamaku Ranges. The longest continuous gradient is between Rolleston and Springfield, on the Midland line, where the average inclination of 1 in 147 is maintained for 30 miles.

Not only gradients are responsible for railway operating difficulties in New Zealand. Curvature also is severe, this being the result both of topography and of financial considerations. Curves of 7 ½ chains radius are frequent on some of the main lines, and on some older routes the gradients are not compensated for curvature. Really long sections of dead-straight track are rare, and even on the Canterbury Plains the longest is only 15 ½ miles.

Plant and Property

Technically, the railways of New Zealand are far more advanced than most New Zealanders would appear to believe. In the field of track engineering New Zealand railway engineers are making excellent progress, and main lines are being relaid or constructed to very high standards permitting heavier traffic and higher speeds, yet costing less to maintain. The standard rail now being laid in main lines weighs 91 lb per yard, compared with the old standard of 70 lb introduced in 1901. Increasing use is being made of specialised machinery for the laying and maintenance of track, and rails are now welded together into long lengths by the electric flash-butt method. Traffic flow is also being steadily improved by means of modern signalling and communications equipment. Electric colour-light signals are replacing the old mechanically operated semaphores, and the classic signal cabin, with its huge manually worked levers, is being replaced by compact all-electric or electronic installations requiring only finger-tip control.

On some heavy-traffic routes the electric train-tablet system – used since 1901 to regulate the passage of trains over single-line sections between stations – has been replaced by a modern remote-control system known as C.T.C. (Centralised Traffic Control). C.T.C., which makes use of colour-light signals and electrically operated points, enables a train controller at a central control station to regulate the flow of traffic in both directions over sections of single line up to 100 miles in length. It permits a smoother operation of a larger number of trains than could be handled in a given period by the tablet system, and enables a reduction to be made in the number of employees required for signalling purposes at wayside stations. New Zealand was the first country outside the North American continent to adopt C.T.C., and since 1938 more than 400 route miles of line have been equipped. The longest individual sections are Frankton-Taumarunui (90 miles), on the North Island Main Trunk line, and St. Leonards – Oamaru (74 miles) on the South Island main line. Preparations are in hand for eventual installation of C.T.C. on the whole of the North Island Main Trunk line between Paekakariki and Frankton, and at the time of writing only 60 miles of single-track line on this route remain under tablet control.