Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is 14,250, which accounts for 43% of the West Coast's inhabitants. The Greymouth urban area had an estimated population of 8,340. A large proportion of the District, 65%, is part of the Conservation Estate owned and managed by the Department of Conservation making Greymouth a natural centre for walkers and trampers.
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, and the Lewis Pass is 66 km to the south-east.
Brunner, originally called Brunnerton, is a town in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It is 12 kilometres (7 mi) east of Greymouth, on the south bank of the Grey River. It is on the Midland Line railway near its junction with the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) in neighbouring Stillwater. Passenger trains ceased running along the SWL to Reefton and Westport in 1967, but the TranzAlpine runs the length of the Midland Line from Christchurch to Greymouth and it continues to stop in Brunner.
The Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch and the Main South Line between Lyttelton and Invercargill, running down the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, are sometimes together referred to collectively as the South Island Main Trunk Railway (SIMT). Construction of a line running the length of the east coast began in the 1860s and was completed all the way from Picton to Invercargill in 1945; the last sections being on the Main North Line south of Picton. The designation "South Island Main Trunk" originally referred to only that line between Christchurch and Invercargill.
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin. It is one of the most important railway lines in New Zealand and was one of the first to be built, with construction commencing in the 1860s. At Christchurch, it connects with the Main North Line to Picton, the other part of the South Island Main Trunk.
The Kaitangata Line, also known as the Kaitangata Branch in its first years of operation, was a railway line in Otago, New Zealand. It was built by a private company and was later acquired by the government's Mines Department, and operated from 1876 until 1970. It provided a link from coal mines to the Main South Line, and was never integrated into the network managed by the New Zealand Railways Department, thus although it could be seen as a branch line of the Main South Line, it officially never was.
The Waimea Plains Railway was a secondary railway line that linked the towns of Lumsden and Gore in northern Southland, New Zealand. It skirted the Hokonui Hills, and operated as a through route between 31 July 1880 and 1 April 1971, with the short section from Lumsden to Balfour continuing as the Balfour Branch until 15 January 1978.
The Rapahoe Branch is a branch line railway that forms part of New Zealand's national rail network and is located on the West Coast of the South Island. It has been operational since 1923 and was named the Rapahoe Industrial Line until 2011.
The Te Aro Extension, also known as the Te Aro Branch, was a short branch line railway in Wellington, New Zealand continuing the Wairarapa Line southwards. It operated from 1893 until 1917.
The Stillwater Ngākawau Line (SNL), formerly the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) and the Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's national rail network. It runs between Stillwater and Ngakawau via Westport on the West Coast of the South Island. It was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand's history, with its first section, at the south end, opened in 1889, and the beginnings of the Ngākawau Branch, at its Westport end, in 1875. The full line was completed in 1942. The only slower railway projects were Palmerston North to Gisborne, 1872 to 1942, and the Main North Line to Picton, 1872 to 1945.
The Blackball Branch was a branch line railway of New Zealand's national rail network on the West Coast of the South Island and worked from the 1900s to 1966. It included the Roa Branch, also known as the Roa Incline. Roa was sometimes known as Paparoa.
The Ross Branch, officially known as the Hokitika Line since 2011, and previously as the Hokitika Industrial Line, is a branch line railway that forms part of New Zealand's national rail network. It is located in the Westland District of the South Island's West Coast region and opened to Hokitika in 1893. A further extension to Ross operated from 1909 until 1980.
Stillwater is a town in the South Island of New Zealand east of Greymouth on the banks of the Grey River, at the confluence with the Arnold River, in the Grey District of the West Coast, next to Brunner. There is also a Stillwater, Auckland in the North Island.
The Rewanui Branch, sometimes referred to as the Rewanui Incline and known as the Point Elizabeth Branch in its early years, was a branch line railway located in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It branched from the Midland Line near its western terminus in Greymouth and ran up to Rewanui in the Paparoa Ranges. The branch closed in 1985 but the first six kilometres to Runanga remain in operation as part of the Rapahoe Branch.
The Seddonville Branch, later truncated as the Ngākawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction began in 1874 and it reached its terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonville in 1895. In 1981 it was closed past Ngākawau and effectively became an extension of the Stillwater–Westport Line, since formalised as the Stillwater–Ngākawau Line.
In New Zealand railway terminology, a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, most commonly used for logging. They are distinguished from urban trams as bush tramways were predominantly for freight, usually logging in the bush, and not for passengers, and were often built in parts of the countryside that were otherwise inaccessible to transport. In some cases, such as the Kinleith Branch, bush tramways were converted to heavy rail and incorporated into the New Zealand Government Railways network. In modern parlance, both urban trams and bush tramways are known as light rail.
Otiria is a rural locality in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island. It neighbours Moerewa to the east, with the nearest major town, Kawakawa a few kilometres further eastwards. Other nearby localities include Pokapu to the south, Orauta to the west, and Hupara to the north.
Paroa is a settlement on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, just south of Greymouth. State Highway 6 and the Hokitika Branch railway both run through Paroa. This railway was originally a bush tramway that opened to Paroa from Greymouth in 1867 and was extended to Kumara in 1877. It was converted into a railway in 1893, and this time, ran from Paroa to Hokitika rather than Kumara.
Ahaura is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, sited where the Ahaura River flows into the Grey River. State Highway 7 and the Stillwater–Ngākawau railway line pass through the town. Greymouth is 34 kilometres (21 mi) to the south-west, and Reefton is 44 kilometres (27 mi) to the north-east.
The Mount Maunganui branch is a short industrial branch line in Tauranga, New Zealand, servicing the eastern side of the Port of Tauranga. It branches from the East Coast Main Trunk at a triangle junction outside Baypark Stadium before running north-west through Mount Maunganui to the port complex.
