South Island Railway Development
[[File There was an extensive network of Railways in the South Island at the peak of rail use in the 1949's and 50's as shown on the accompanying map.. This wiki page give an overview of how all those railway line came to be and some of the rapid demises during the 1970's - 1990's
In 1853, the administration of public facilities in the South Island was placed under the control of three Provincial Councils. By 1868, due mainly to geographical difficulties, this had grown to 6 Provinces, with Marlborough, Westland and Southland being divided off Nelson, Canterbury and Otago respectively. Each Council was challenged by different drivers to best meet the needs in their particular area. There was however one common issue and that was transport, and in each case, railways provided a solution to quite specific needs.
Canterbury was very quick in initiating an ambitious scheme of railway construction in order to have a reliable transport route from its productive lands to its capital, and on to the port. Legislation was passed in 1860 authorising the first stages of construction, culminating in Amberley in the north and Rakaia in the south being connected to Christchurch from where there was a link to the port of Lyttelton, all being operational before the Provincial Governments were abolished in 1876. The design of this railway was strongly influenced by early English systems, with three members of the famous Stephenson family involved at various stages. Track was constructed to 5'3" gauge(also referred to as Irish or Broad gauge) and locomotives and rolling-stock sourced from Melbourne, Australia where similar systems were already in operation. The crucial piece of railway was of course the Christchurch to Lyttelton line which ensured efficient transport of goods and passengers between the the port and the provincial capital. This Line necessitated the construction of a tunnel through the side of an old volcano, something new for civil engineers of the day and the longest tunnel in the Southern Hemisphere at the time. With a 12 year construction period, work was well underway in both other directions before the tunnel was completed. The other two lines received the appropriate grand names of Great Northern Railway and Great Southern Railway.