Overview
On Dec. 1, 1863, New Zealand’s first public steam railway opened between Christchurch and Ferrymead in the Canterbury Province. Its first locomotive was Pilgrim, a British-built tank engine.
The roughly 5.5-mile-long line provided a critical transportation link between Christchurch and port facilities on the Heathcote Estuary, marking the beginning of the country’s public railway era. Built to a broad Irish gauge of five feet three inches, the railway served the city for just four years before the opening of the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel in 1867 rendered it obsolete.
Quick Facts
- Date
- Dec. 1, 1863