Main North Line

Construction of the Main North Line spanned nearly 100 years with the first portions from Addington to Rangiora in the south built in 1872, and at the northern end from Picton to Blenhein in 1875. The final linking section between Kaikoura and Hundalee was not completed till the end of 1945. Due to its length (348km) the description of the lines construction will be dealt with in 5 sections, roughly aligning with construction phases, but in reverse sequence from Picton to Christchurch (to line up with the maps), rather than chronologically.

ADDINGTON to WAIPARA

Station	Mileage M.ch	Metrage km	Elevation ft	Elevation m	Opened	Closed
Christchurch(2)	n/a	0.51		(12)	5/04/1993	n/a
Riccarton	1.18	2.03	32	10	29/04/1872	2/07/1977
Bryndwr	2.29	3.79	39	12	?	27/03/1977
Papanui	5.32	8.67	74	23	26/02/1876	3/09/1955
Styx	6.72	11.10	(22)	(6)	17/06/1915	3/09/1955
Belfast	8.32	13.52	28	13	31/01/1876	3/09/1955
Chaneys	9.32	15.13	51	16	c.23/04/1895	3/09/1955
Kainga	10.32	16.74	72	22	31/01/1876	3/09/1955
Kaiapoi	13.16	21.24	93	28	31/01/1876	3/09/1955
Eyerton Junction	14.48	23.50	123	36	31/01/1876	3/09/1955
Flaxton	17.24	27.84	204	62	31/01/1876	3/09/1955
Southbrook	20.22	32.19	328	100	31/01/1876	3/09/1955
Rangiora	21.16	34.12	367	112	25/07/1881	3/09/1955
Ashley	22.56	35.63	438	134	25/07/1881	3/09/1955
Sefton	31.72	51.34	621	189	16/02/1899	3/09/1955
Balcairn	35.08	56.49	529	161	22/10/1906	13/06/1954
Grays Road	36.64	59.22	479	146	6/08/1906	3/09/1955
Amberley	39.48	63.73	555	169	6/08/1906	3/09/1955
Greneys Road	42.24	68.08	671	205	6/08/1906	3/09/1955
Glasnevin	47.32	76.28	896	274	18/12/1908	3/09/1955
Waipara	50.48	81.43	1064	325	2/09/1912	3/09/1955