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Kōrero: Government and agriculture

Opening of the first railway

Image
Opening of the first railway

In 1863 the Canterbury Provincial Council built the first railway in New Zealand. This illustration is of the opening, on 1 December 1863, of the line between Christchurch and Ferrymead. In 1867 the line was extended to the port of Lyttelton.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0033-1864-241

by R. S. Kelly

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Tony Nightingale, Government and agriculture – Land purchase and early farming regulations, 1840–1876, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/artwork/18048/opening-of-the-first-railway (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Tony Nightingale, i tāngia i te 1 March 2009.