Tunnels in New Zealand

This list of Tunnels in New Zealand is a link page for any railway tunnel, road tunnel or waterway tunnel, including any hydroelectric intake or tailrace or gun battery tunnel anywhere in the New Zealand. It includes man-made chambers but excludes caves and mines.

• Note: This list is not exhaustive.

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Table of contents

1 Hydroelectric Tunnels and Chambers 2 Gun Battery or Military Tunnels 3 Railway Tunnels 3.1 Shortest Tunnels not constructed by the cut and cover technique 3.2 Some Disused Railway Tunnels 3.2.1 Sources for Railway Tunnels: 4 Road Tunnels

Hydroelectric Tunnels and Chambers

• Manapouri Power Station
• Manapouri Tailrace - 2 Tunnels
• Tongariro Power Scheme

Gun Battery or Military Tunnels

• Devonport Tunnels, Auckland, New Zealand
• Wrights Hill Tunnels, Wellington, New Zealand
• Cashmere Hills - Chamber, Christchurch, New Zealand

Railway Tunnels

From longest to shortest.

1. Kaimai - 8879 m - opened 12 September 1978 - at Apata on the East Coast Main Trunk Line to Tauranga.
2. Rimutaka - 8798 m - opened October 29(?) 1955 - between Upper Hutt (Wellington) and Featherston (Wairarapa), replaced the Rimutaka Incline, a Fell mountain railway.
3. Otira - 8566 m - opened 1923 - between Arthurs Pass and Otira, in the Southern Alps on the trans alpine South Island Midland Line - continuous 1 in 33 grade - electrified until 1990s.
4. Tawa No. 2 - 4324 m - opened 1935, goods on 1 line, 1937 all traffic - longest double track tunnel in New Zealand. Between Wellington and Tawa.
5. Tikiwhata - 2989 m - opened 1943, between Wairoa and Gisborne.
6. Lyttelton - 2596 m - opened 1867, between Heathcote valley, (Christchurch) and Lyttelton.
7. Turakina - 2091 m - opened 1947, between Marton and Wanganui.

Shortest Tunnels not constructed by the cut and cover technique

1. A 39.83 m long tunnel - opened 1906, between Staircase and Avoca, South Island Midland Line.
2. A 42.05 m long tunnel - opened in 1891, near Woodville, in the Manawatu Gorge.

Some Disused Railway Tunnels

• Cruickshanks Tunnel - opened January 1 1878, between Mangaroa and Upper Hutt.
• Mangaroa Tunnel - 152 m - opened January 1 1878, at Tunnel Gully recreation area, Te Marua, Upper Hutt.
• Summit - 584 m, and 3 other shorter tunnels, opened October 12 1878 on the Rimutaka Incline walkway.

Sources for Railway Tunnels:

• New Zealand Railway Tunnels at http://trains.wellington.net.nz
• New Zealand Railway Tunnels at 31st March 1975
• Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, David Leitch and Brian Scott, Grantham House Publishing, Wellington (1995).

Road Tunnels

• Lyttelton Road Tunnel - 1900 m - opened 1964, on SH74 between Lyttelton and the Heathcote valley in Christchurch.
• Homer Tunnel - 1200 m - opened 1953 on SH 94 between Hollyford Valley and Milford Sound, Fiordland. Altitude 945m. Unlined rock, unlit.
• Victoria Tunnel - 600 m - opened 1931, Mount Victoria, Wellington
• Karori Tunnel, Kelburn Wellington
• Hataitai - bus tunnel, Mount Victoria, Wellington
• The Terrace Motorway Tunnel, under The Terrace, Wellington
• Moki Tunnel - approx 200 m, SH43 between Whanagmomona and Taumarunui - uses wooden shoring.
• There are 2 short road tunnels on State Highway 1, on the coast a few kilometres south of Kaikoura
• There are short tunnels on SH3 between New Plymouth and Te Kuiti - one at the summit of Mt Messenger and one in the Awakino gorge.

See also: List of Tunnels of the World.