Lyttelton Line

Lyttelton Line
Map of the Lyttelton Line route.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	KiwiRail
Locale	Christchurch, New Zealand
Termini	Lyttelton Christchurch
Service
Type	KiwiRail rail freight
System	New Zealand Government Railways Department
Operator(s)	KiwiRail
History
Opened	9 December 1867
Technical
Line length	10 kilometres (6.2 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track (Lyttelton – Heathcote) Double track (Heathcote – Christchurch)
Character	Metropolitan
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification	14 February 1929 – 18 September 1970
Route map Legend km Main South Line 9.77 Christchurch (Moorhouse Avenue) Gasson Street Christchurch (Madras Street) Waltham Road Wilsons Road North 8.38 Linwood Linwood locomotive depot Ensors Road 7.24 Opawa Richardson Terrace Heathcote River Clarendon Terrace Garlands Road Curries Road 5.93 Woolston (Hillsborough) Woolston container yard Chapmans Road Tunnel Road Scruttons Road Ferrymead Railway Martindales Road 2.90 Heathcote (The Valley) No. 1 Tunnel 2.595 km 1.612 mi Oil sidings Lyttelton Oxford Street 0.00 Lyttelton Gladstone Quay Container terminal Cashin Quay Collier loading facility This diagram: view talk edit

Lyttelton Line is a name sometimes used to refer to the section of the Main South Line in New Zealand's South Island between Lyttelton and Christchurch, and can also be used to refer to the operations on this section. As it has always been part of the Main South Line (originally the Canterbury Great Southern Railway), this name has never been officially used to refer to the track itself.

The line between Lyttelton and Christchurch is notable for several reasons, including: incorporating part of the first public railway in New Zealand, between Ferrymead and Christchurch; including in its route the still operational first railway tunnel in New Zealand; and, having been the site of the first electrified suburban service in New Zealand.