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Story: Railways

TranzAlpine railway

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TranzAlpine railway

The TranzAlpine, seen here crossing the Bealey River bridge, carries about 200,000 passengers a year over the Southern Alps between Christchurch and Greymouth. It is the most successful of the three long-distance rail routes that remained in New Zealand in the 2020s. The others are the Coastal Pacific between Picton and Christchurch, and the Northern Explorer between Auckland and Wellington.

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How to cite this page

Neill Atkinson, Railways – Rail transformed, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21424/tranzalpine-railway (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Neill Atkinson, published 6 April 2010.