Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of 4,375.5 km (2,718.8 mi) of track linking most major cities in the North and South Islands, connected by inter-island rail and road ferries. Rail transport in New Zealand has a particular focus on bulk freight exports and imports, with 19 million net tonnes moved by rail annually, and 99.5% of New Zealand's exports and imports being transported through the country's seaports.
Dunedin Railways is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand. The company is a council-controlled trading organisation wholly owned by Dunedin City Council through its holding company Dunedin City Holdings Limited.
Westfield railway station was a station of the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. The station closed to all services on 12 March 2017, following an announcement by Auckland Transport on 17 January 2017, because fewer than 330 passengers used it daily and it required a costly upgrade.
The NZR RM class Silver Fern was a class of rail motor in New Zealand. The three air-conditioned and sound-proofed 723-kW 96-seater diesel-electric twin-set railcars were built by Kawasaki under contract with Nissho Iwai of Japan. New Zealand Railways (NZR) classified the railcars as RM (Rail Motor), the same as other railcars, using the Silver Ferns (a national symbol of New Zealand) because of their exterior was made of corrugated stainless steel, like the premier night sleeper train that also ran on the Wellington-Auckland (North Island Main Trunk) route, the Silver Star. The Silver Ferns replaced the three successful Blue Streak railcars on the service.
The New Zealand EF class locomotive is a class of 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric locomotives that operate on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) between Palmerston North and Te Rapa in New Zealand. Built by Brush Traction in Loughborough, England between 1986 and 1988 to run on the new electrified central section of the NIMT, at 3,000 kilowatts (4,000 hp), they are the most powerful locomotives to operate in New Zealand.
The Wellington Region has a well developed public transport system, the most used in New Zealand. It consists of electric and diesel buses, commuter trains, ferries and a funicular. It also included trams until 1964 and trolleybuses until 2017.
The Capital Connection is a long-distance commuter train operated by KiwiRail between Palmerston North and the capital city of Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk.
The Coastal Pacific is a long-distance passenger train that runs between Picton and Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is operated by the Great Journeys New Zealand division of KiwiRail. It was called the TranzCoastal from May 2000 until temporarily withdrawn in February 2011. It was the first train to use the new AK class carriages.
The Avondale–Southdown Line is a proposed railway line between Avondale and Southdown in Auckland, New Zealand. One of its main functions would be to remove north–south freight trains from parts of the Auckland rail system that have significant passenger traffic.
New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, when the old New Zealand Railways Department was corporatised followed by deregulation of the land transport sector. In 1986, the Corporation became a State-owned enterprise, required to make a profit. Huge job losses and cutbacks ensued, and the rail network, rail operations and ferry service of the Corporation were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited in 1990. The Corporation retained ownership of the land beneath the railway network, and charged a nominal rental to New Zealand Rail, which was privatised in 1993, and renamed Tranz Rail in 1995. In 2004, following a deal with Tranz Rail's new owners Toll NZ, the Corporation took over responsibility for maintaining and upgrading the rail network once more, trading under the name ONTRACK. Negotiations with Toll over track access charges concluded after four years with no agreement reached, so the government purchased the entire rail and ferry operations, naming the service KiwiRail. ONTRACK's railway infrastructure and employees were then transferred to KiwiRail in 2008, which itself was initially a subsidiary of the Corporation. On 31 December 2012, the Corporation once again became the landowner.
The Marsden Point Branch is a 19 km (12 mi) branch line railway, which is to be built in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It will diverge from the North Auckland Line at Oakleigh, south of Whangārei, and serve Northport at Marsden Point. The proposal has existed since the 1970s and land for the rail corridor is being actively purchased.
The Hutt Railway Workshops is a major railway engineering facility in the Lower Hutt suburb of Gracefield in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. It is state-owned enterprise KiwiRail's only workshops, and was opened in 1930.
KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) responsible for rail operations in New Zealand and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, KiwiRail is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand. KiwiRail has business units of KiwiRail Freight, Great Journeys New Zealand and Interislander. The company was formed in 2008 when the government renationalised above-rail operations and inter-island ferry operations, then owned by Toll Holdings. In 2021, the government launched the New Zealand Rail Plan, with funding for rail projects to come from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), and with KiwiRail remaining an SOE but paying Track Access Charges (TACs) to use the network.
Auckland railway electrification occurred in phases as part of investment in a new infrastructure for Auckland's urban railway network. Electrification of the network had been proposed for several decades. Installation started in the late 2000s after funds were approved from a combination of regional and central government budgets.
The New Zealand AK class carriage is a type of 17 cars built by Dunedin's Hillside Workshops for KiwiRail's long-distance passenger operation The Great Journeys of New Zealand. Consisting of 11 AK saloon carriages and four AKC café carriages, supplemented by three AKL luggage vans and four AKV open-air viewing/generator vans converted from AG vans, similar to those previously used on the Coastal Pacific and the TranzAlpine. The AK class are the first new carriages to be built in New Zealand since 1943.
The City Rail Link (CRL) is a rail project currently under construction in Auckland, New Zealand. The project consists of a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long double-track rail tunnel underneath Auckland's city centre, between Waitematā (Britomart) and Maungawhau railway stations. Two new underground stations will be constructed to serve the city centre: Te Waihorotiu near Aotea Square and Karanga-a-Hape near Karangahape Road. Waitematā will be converted from a terminus station into a through station, and Mount Eden station will be replaced by Maungawhau station, a new station with four platforms to serve as an interchange between the new CRL line and the existing Western Line.
The Northern Explorer is a long-distance passenger train operated by the Great Journeys New Zealand division of KiwiRail between Auckland and Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand, along the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). Three services operate per week in each direction between Auckland's The Strand Station and Wellington railway station. The Northern Explorer replaced the Overlander from 25 June 2012.
Great Journeys New Zealand is the tourism division of KiwiRail that operate its three Scenic train services. The new division was launched in May 2017 and replaced the former tourism brand KiwiRail Scenic Journeys. It has continuity with the earlier InterCity Rail (1987–1995) and Tranz Scenic (1995–2011).
Various rail operators in New Zealand have used rail cranes, for various tasks on maintaining the rail corridor, including accident recovery work.
