Canterbury Interior Main Line

The Canterbury Interior Main Line was a proposed railway line that would have linked many of the branch lines in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. Although it was never built in full, its most northerly portion was constructed.

The proposal

The proposal was created and developed in the 1870s and 1880s as branch lines began to fan out from the then under-construction Main North Line and Main South Line (which together form the South Island Main Trunk Railway). These lines ran from coastal centres inland and were intended to provide better communication and transport for young, fledgling communities and to open up parts of Canterbury for greater, more intensive economic activity - mainly agriculture. The Canterbury Interior Main Line proposal intended to link these branch lines together. It was to leave the Main North Line in Rangiora, head inland to Oxford and Sheffield and then link a number of branch lines at or near their termini before returning to the coast and joining the Main South Line in Temuka, just north of Timaru.

The lines linked would have been:

Oxford Branch - the route inland from Rangiora
Eyreton Branch - it was connected to the Oxford Branch
Midland Line - then known as the Malvern Branch, it terminated in Malvern (now known as Sheffield)
Whitecliffs Branch - to meet it in Homebush
Methven Branch
Mount Somers Branch

The constructed portion

On 21 June 1875, the Oxford Branch was completed to Oxford, and construction soon began on a link across the Waimakariri Gorge to Sheffield. A Royal Commission of New Zealand's railways in 1880 recommended the early completion of this link to Sheffield, and despite the Long Depression, it was finished and opened on 28 July 1884. This was seen as the first portion of the Canterbury Interior Main Line, and although the 1880 Royal Commission disapproved of the proposal, it remained on the table for a number of years. However, increasing usage of road transport in the early 20th century began to impact the amount of passengers and freight carried by rail and the economic viability of any interior main line sharply declined and the proposal disappeared. By 1930, it was clearly accepted that the proposal would never come to fruition, as evidenced by the closure of the Oxford to Sheffield link on 14 July 1930. The rest of the Oxford Branch closed on 19 April 1959.

References

Churchman, Geoffrey B., and Hurst, Tony; The Railways Of New Zealand: A Journey Through History, HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand), 1991 reprint
Leitch, David, and Scott, Brian; Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, Grantham House, 1998 revised edition

New Zealand railway lines

Main lines

North Island	East Coast Main Trunk North Island Main Trunk (inc. Kapiti Line)

South Island	Main North Line and Main South Line (inc. Lyttelton Line), known together as the South Island Main Trunk

Secondary lines

North Island	Marton–New Plymouth Line Newmarket Line North Auckland Line Palmerston North–Gisborne Line Stratford–Okahukura Line Wairarapa Line (inc. Hutt Valley Line)

South Island	Midland Line Nelson Section Otago Central Railway Stillwater–Westport Line Waimea Plains Railway

Branch lines

Upper North Island	Cambridge Dargaville Donnellys Crossing Glen Afton Kinleith Kumeu–Riverhead Manukau Mount Maunganui Murupara Okaihau Onehunga Onerahi Opua Rotorua Taneatua Thames Waiuku and Mission Bush

Lower North Island	Ahuriri Castlecliff Foxton Gracefield Greytown Johnsonville Melling Mount Egmont Moutohora Ngatapa Opunake Raetihi Taonui Te Aro Waitara Wanganui

Upper South Island	Blackball and Roa Cape Foulwind Conns Creek Eyreton Fairlie Ferrymead Little River Methven Mount Somers Oxford Rapahoe Rewanui Hokitika/Ross Seddonville Southbridge Waiau Waimate Whitecliffs

Lower South Island	Bluff Catlins River Dunback and Makareao Fernhill Hedgehope Kingston Kurow Moeraki Mossburn Ngapara and Tokarahi Outram Port Chalmers Roxburgh Shag Point Tapanui Tokanui Tuatapere Waikaia Waikaka Wairio Walton Park Wyndham

Private lines

Significant proposals

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