page_title: Rail transport in New Zealand
section_title: Central Government control (1876–1982)
hierarchical_section_title: Rail transport in New Zealand / History / Central Government control (1876–1982)
caption_attribution_description: English: Interislander ferry DEV Aratere passing Papatea Point in the Tory Channel on 10 June 2017. Aratere was operating the 10:45 Picton to Wellington service, with the photo taken from aboard fellow Interislander ferry MV Kaitaki operating the 09:00 Wellington to Picton service.
context_page_description: Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of 4,128 km 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, with 99.5% of New Zealand's exports and imports being transported through the country's seaports.
  Rail transport played an important role in the opening up and development of the hinterland outside of New Zealand's predominantly dispersed and coastal settlements. Starting with the Ferrymead Railway in 1863, most public railway lines were short, built by provincial governments and connected major centres to their nearest seaport. From the 1870s, focus shifted to building a nationwide network linking major centres, especially during the Vogel Era of railway construction following the abolition of the provinces. Narrow gauge of 3ft 6in was adopted nationally.
context_section_description: Following the abolition of the provinces in 1876, railway lines were controlled by the central government, originally under the Public Works Department, and from 1880 under the New Zealand Railways Department. A Minister of Railways was responsible for the department and was a member of the New Zealand Cabinet.
  A few private companies built railways in New Zealand, including the New Zealand Midland Railway Company, Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, Waimea Plains Railway, and Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company. Only the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, nationalised in 1908, achieved any measure of success, with the rest being purchased by the Government before completion of their intended railway lines. One exception to this rule was the Ohai Railway Board in Southland, which was owned by the State Mines department and a local county council until its dissolution in 1990.
  The first major route was completed between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1878, later extended to Invercargill the following year. The North Island Main Trunk, linking capital city Wellington with the largest city Auckland, opened in 1908 after 23 years of construction. At the network's peak in 1952, about 100 branch lines were operating. Large-scale closures of branch railway lines began in the 1960s and 1970s. The network was initially protected from road transport competition under the Transport Licensing Act 1931, but this protection was gradually eased until its total abolition in 1983, along with the deregulation of the land transport industry.
  The networks of the North and South Islands were independent of one another until the introduction of the inter-island roll-on roll-off rail ferry service in 1962 by the Railways Department, now branded The Interislander.
caption: DEV Aratere in the Tory Channel, June 2018. The rail ferries operated by KiwiRail under the brand "Interisland Line" connect the networks of both the North and South Islands.
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