45-924: Dunedin Railways (formerly the Taieri Gorge Railway ) is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand . The company is a council-controlled trading organisation wholly owned by Dunedin City Council through its holding company Dunedin City Holdings Limited. The Otago Excursion Train Trust
90-482: A mosaic floor of almost 750,000 Minton tiles. A frieze of Royal Doulton porcelain runs around the balcony above it from which the floor's design, featuring a locomotive and related symbols, can be clearly seen. The main platform is the country's longest, extending for about 500 metres. The foundation stone was laid by the Minister of Railways Joseph Ward on 3 June 1904. The Prime Minister Richard Seddon
135-604: A day. It is designed by George Troup , in the Flemish Renaissance style, and it is his most famous design. It earned Troup the nickname of " Gingerbread George". Dunedin was linked to Christchurch by rail in 1878, with a link south to Invercargill completed the following year, and the first railway workshops were opened at Hillside in South Dunedin in 1875. Early plans were for a grand main station on Cumberland Street, but these did not get further than
180-642: A lack of freight traffic following the completion of the Clyde Dam . Dunedin City Council then stepped in, purchasing the line as far as Middlemarch and five locomotives, which were then leased by the Trust to run its trains. The Trust continued to operate the Taieri Gorge Limited, now with its own locomotives ( DJ class locomotives withdrawn by NZR in the same year), but needed a further NZ$ 1 million to fund its operations. A community appeal in 1990 raised NZ$ 1.2 million. The line beyond Middlemarch on
225-576: A section of short bridges and cuttings through several rocky outcrops, on its way to Pukerangi. Between Pukerangi and Middlemarch, the railway only once more comes close to the Taieri River, where it crosses Sutton Creek over another combined road-rail bridge. Dunedin Railways currently operates on a reduced schedule. The Inlander runs through the Taieri Gorge to Hindon, The Seasider runs up the coast through Waitati to Seacliff, and The Victorian
270-476: A station for a wide range of activities: it was a commercial and industrial centre, close to gold and coalfields, with a hinterland that was dependent on livestock and forestry for its economy. In an eclectic, revived Flemish renaissance style, ( Renaissance Revival architecture ), the station is constructed of dark basalt from Kokonga in the Strath-Taieri with lighter Oamaru stone facings, giving it
315-415: A variant of the modified New Zealand Railways scheme carried by the class in the 1980s, where the low nose sides are painted blue instead of yellow and grey cab front. Two locomotives are in an operational condition, but are not currently certified for mainline use; a seventh, DJ3021 (ex-D 1202), is being stored, pending future restoration after it was purchased from its former home at Ranfurly station where it
360-634: Is New Zealand's longest tourist railway and stretches along the former Otago Central Railway from the 4 km peg on the Taieri Branch , 18 km west of Dunedin , to Middlemarch , a distance of 60 kilometres (37 mi). Between Dunedin and the start of the line, its trains operate on KiwiRail's Main South Line via a running rights agreement. The line travels along the banks of the Taieri River , through numerous tunnels and along
405-663: Is an AL class car-van with a small luggage compartment at one end while the other two are A class carriages. Steel-clad cars, A class 50159 and 50223 were sold to the Weka Pass Railway in 2008 and AL 50090 was sold to the Midland Rail Heritage Trust in 2013. The wood-clad carriages are A 1327, built in 1913, with open vestibules and non-covered gangways. Dunedin Railways has three all-steel air-conditioned panorama carriages with open platform ends and open gangways, known locally as "Jungle Gyms" due to
450-741: Is an all-day trip to the North Otago town of Oamaru. Special services also run, including the Christmas Inlander in December and the addition of Quiz Trains in 2023. 2024 saw the addition of The Stargazer, a trip to Hindon for an evening of star gazing hosted by the Dunedin Astronomical Society . Dunedin Railways also operates the Seasider tourist train along the coast to Waitati , north of Dunedin. Following
495-488: Is at the southern end of Anzac Avenue, a kilometre-long tree-lined street running roughly parallel to the railway, which leads to Logan Park . The central part of Anzac Avenue is part of State Highway 88 , which links the central city with its port facilities at Port Chalmers , and was the northern end until 2011 when construction of the Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza required re-routing of part of
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#1732782921567540-591: Is held in the grounds to the north every Saturday morning. Every year in March, the station takes centre stage in the South Island's main fashion show, with the main platform becoming reputedly the world's longest catwalk . A thorough refurbishment of the exterior took place in the late 1990s, accompanied by the landscaping of the gardens outside the entrance in Anzac Square. In October 2006 its centenary
585-639: The Taieri Gorge to the Strath Taieri . It crosses a dozen viaducts and passes through ten tunnels. At Wingatui railway station , the original building and signal box from 1914 have been restored. After the line passes through the 437 metres (1,434 ft) long Salisbury Tunnel, the longest on the line, it crosses Mullocky Gully over the 197 metres (646 ft) long Wingatui Viaduct , the largest wrought iron structure in New Zealand since it
630-648: The Wairarapa Connection . The first of these, A 2325, was prepared at a cost of $ 45,000 and was ready in September 2008. The company anticipated having three carriages in service by the end of 2008, and all 12 by 2013. The upgrade included new seating, carpets, toilets and external paint. The railway intends to refurbish three carriages each year. As of December 2015, only five out of the twelve carriages have been restored. Two of these carriages have since been disposed of. In 2012, panoramic window car AO 77
675-680: The 47-foot cars have been sold, while two were scrapped circa 1978. One carriage, A 1254, is owned by the Ocean Beach Railway (OBR) and is leased to Dunedin Railways. This carriage will be returned to the OBR at the conclusion of its lease. Dunedin Railways has currently three steel-clad and one wood-clad NZR 50-foot carriages , formerly used on Dunedin suburban trains and express passenger trains. The steel-clads have 30-37 seats, enclosed vestibules and covered gangways and were built by New Zealand Railways Department in 1931–40. One of these
720-576: The Hindon-Middlemarch section as well. In the financial year to June 2017, Dunedin Railways had revenues of NZ$ 6.578m and expenses of NZ$ 6.387m, and turned a profit of NZ$ 137,000. Following the COVID-19 pandemic of 2021, Dunedin Railways was losing NZ$ 1.5 million per annum. The railway owns seven former New Zealand Railways D class locomotives, four of which are currently operational and certified for mainline operation. They are painted in
765-825: The Otago Central Branch was lifted during 1991, and the trackbed handed over to the Department of Conservation in 1993. It is now the Otago Central Rail Trail , a major cycling tourist attraction in the area. On 8 March 1995, the Dunedin City Council (through its holding company Dunedin City Holdings Limited) and the Trust incorporated a new company, Taieri Gorge Railway Limited. Dunedin City Holdings
810-488: The Otago Excursion Train Trust had taken tourists on scenic rail excursions up the Taieri Gorge to Middlemarch and more recently up the coast, north of Dunedin on the Seasider . The reason for the change was so that tourists can link the train trips to Dunedin and it makes it much clearer what the railway is. AO 77 was the first carriage to be repainted into their new blue livery with their name on
855-539: The decision to mothball Dunedin Railways, the Otago Excursion Train Trust sold its shares in the company to the council in April 2020. In May 2021, Dunedin City Council agreed to keep the Taieri Gorge line as far as Hindon in operation, as well as services on KiwiRail's railway lines. In November 2021, the council agreed to extend support through to 2024. In 2023, the council decided to reactivate
900-642: The decrease in passenger rail traffic, the station now serves more functions than the one for which it was designed. Bought by the Dunedin City Council in 1994, its uses have greatly diversified, though it still caters for the Dunedin Railways tourist trains. Much of the ground floor is used as a restaurant, and the upper floor is home to both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and the Otago Art Society . A produce market
945-433: The distinctive light and dark pattern common to many of the grander buildings of Dunedin and Christchurch . Pink granite was used for a series of supporting pillars which line a colonnade at the front. The roof was tiled in terracotta shingles from Marseilles surmounted by copper-domed cupolas. The southern end is dominated by the 37-metre clocktower visible from much of central Dunedin. The booking hall features
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#1732782921567990-529: The early 1990s and is not mainline certified, instead of being based at the TGR works depot at the 4 km peg. It previously carried a modified International Orange scheme but was repainted in 2006 to its original livery of Carnation Red with the addition of "wasp stripes" on the headstocks as it would have carried in the 1970s. In 2013, Dunedin Railways leased Silver Fern railcar RM24 from KiwiRail and operated this on trips between Dunedin and Waitati. The railcar
1035-550: The highway. Logan Park was the site of the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition , and the avenue and square were named to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps , the "ANZACs", who were New Zealand's main military force during the First World War . After the refurbishment of the square, a large plaque dedicated to New Zealand's Victoria Cross recipients was relocated to its northern end, close to
1080-543: The latter two locations. Hindon , still operating as a crossing station, is typically one of the stopping points on the trip. Just before the station, the railway tracks share a combined road-rail bridge with Hindon Road. Another stopping point for photo opportunities is the Deep Stream viaduct. Here the line slowly starts to climb higher and out of the gorge, passing over the Flat Stream viaduct, and "The Notches",
1125-416: The laying of a foundation, and a simple temporary weatherboard station was built next to the site in 1884. It took close to 20 years for government funding to be allocated, and planning only really commenced as the 19th century was drawing to a close. The logistics of constructing what was at the time New Zealand's busiest railway station took three years before construction began in 1903. Dunedin required
1170-551: The maximum size of rolling stock that can operate on the railway; some freight wagons cannot use the line. 45°52′31″S 170°30′32″E / 45.87528°S 170.50889°E / -45.87528; 170.50889 Dunedin Railway Station Dunedin railway station is a prominent landmark and tourist site in Dunedin , a city in the South Island of New Zealand . It is speculated by locals to be
1215-515: The most photographed building in the country, as well as the second most photographed in the southern hemisphere, after the Sydney Opera House . Dunedin Railways currently operates three tourist train lines out of the station, The Inlander, The Seasider, and The Victorian . There are no dedicated intercity or suburban services still operating, although in the past it was the country's busiest station, being served by up to 100 trains
1260-552: The nature of their framework when under construction. These were designed and built by the OETT in 1987–92, with a "very distinctive shape to fit the tunnels". Two of these carriages were built on Z class "roadsider" freight van underframes while the third was built on the underframe of guard's van F 529. In September 2007, the Taieri Gorge Railway announced that it had purchased 12 NZR 56-foot carriages formerly used on
1305-458: The new company, and the Trust sold its locomotives, carriages and other assets to the new company. The company is governed according to its constitution by a board of directors comprising six people. Two of these people were selected by Dunedin City Holdings Limited, two by the Otago Excursion Train Trust and two jointly by both shareholding parties. On 1 December 2017, the company changed its name to Dunedin Railways Limited. The Taieri Gorge Limited
1350-579: The possibility of introducing log haulage between Mount Allan and Port Chalmers at the end of the Port Chalmers Branch . However, on 12 June 2007, it was announced that a cost difference of NZ$ 5 million existed between road and rail haulage in favour of road, and potential government subsidies were insufficient to close the gap. The announcement was met with disappointment by the Dunedin City Council, which favourably viewed
1395-519: The rail option as it was more environmentally friendly and would have reduced traffic congestion. It has since been worked out that with extra damage caused by the logging trucks on the Mosgiel to Port Chalmers road that it would have been cheaper to perform the operation by rail, but despite pleas by the local council, Wenita, the relevant company, said it had invested too much in the road option to change its plans. The route's loading gauge restricts
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1440-407: The reduction in the prominence of rail transport means that only a handful of trains use the station today. The station used to have dock platforms at both the north and south ends and a crossover midway along the main platform. Large shunting yards, most of which have now gone, occupied land to the south. Much of this land has now been subdivided into wholesale and light industrial properties. With
1485-518: The sides in October 2014. This was followed by A 3022 and AG 239. In September 2015, A 1695 was repainted into their yellow version of livery. On 20 April 2020, the company announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand , it mothballed its track and equipment. The company said up to 80% of its revenue came from international tourists. The mothballing could affect up to 51 jobs. Following
1530-1015: The start of Anzac Avenue. This has since been relocated again, and now stands close to the city's main war memorial, the Dunedin Cenotaph in Queen's Gardens, 400 metres to the south. The station was served by daily sightseeing trains to Middlemarch or Pukerangi via the Taieri Gorge , and to Palmerston . Although lacking any facilities specific to bus travel, it is Dunedin's terminal for shuttle vans to Dunedin International Airport and for most long-distance buses other than Intercity , which has its own terminal nearby. [REDACTED] Media related to Dunedin Railway Station at Wikimedia Commons 45°52′31″S 170°30′32″E / 45.87528°S 170.50889°E / -45.87528; 170.50889 Hindon, New Zealand Too Many Requests If you report this error to
1575-425: The station is Anzac Square, which, despite its name, is roughly triangular in shape, and was extensively remodelled and extended in the 1990s to create a formal knot garden . Directly across the square is Lower Stuart Street , which leads to the city's centre, The Octagon , from where the station is clearly visible as a major landmark. The station thus forms a terminating vista for Lower Stuart Street. The square
1620-575: The wharves. Four people were on the bridge, with one suffering minor injuries when she fell 4.5 metres. Reconstruction of a footbridge of similar design on the same site was carried out in September–October 2008. In 2020 the railway station was used for filming scenes for the movie The Power of the Dog , for which Jane Campion won the Academy Award for Best Director . Immediately outside
1665-645: The withdrawal of the Southerner by Tranz Scenic in 2002, it is the only passenger train on the Main South Line . In 2012, Dunedin Railways leased one of the Silver Fern class railcars from KiwiRail for use on the same route as the Seasider. On 23 October 2014, the Taieri Gorge Railway announced that it would be changing its name to Dunedin Railways. For 35 years, the Taieri Gorge Railway and
1710-530: Was a majority shareholder (72.03%) and the Trust held the balance of the shares (27.97%). The company operated as a Council-controlled organisation (formerly known as a Local-authority trading enterprise ) under Part 5 of the Local Government Act 2002 . This was due to the need to raise more capital to finance the expansion of the Trusts operation. Dunedin City Council then sold the railway line to
1755-415: Was a static display. An eighth, DJ3044 (D 1204) was acquired from Mainline Steam in 2012 as a source of spare parts and has been dismantled. Both were painted in the modified blue scheme and were purchased in a withdrawn condition. TGR also operates one D class locomotive, D 504 (TMS DE1337). This locomotive was acquired from Otago Polytechnic (who had acquired it from New Zealand Railways Corporation) in
1800-531: Was also present. The station was officially opened by Ward, by then Prime Minister, on 12 November 1906. Construction was kept within budget, and cost £40,000. In its early days the station was the country's busiest, handling up to 100 trains a day, including suburban services to Mosgiel and Port Chalmers , railcars to Palmerston and the Otago Central Railway and other trains to Christchurch and Invercargill . The city's economic decline and
1845-500: Was built in 1887. The 47 m tall viaduct's riveted truss structure rests on seven concrete and masonry piers. Shortly after the Wingatui Viaduct, the route emerges from Mullocky Gully to join Taieri Gorge, and from then on follows that gorge above Taieri River to just east of Pukerangi. On the way the line passes former stations Parera, Mount Allen, Little Mount Allen, and Christmas Creek, crossing two curved viaducts at
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1890-419: Was celebrated with a festival of railway events, including the operation of eight steam railway locomotives from all over New Zealand. In 2006 it was recognised by DK Eyewitness Travel as one of "The World's 200 Must-See Places". On 12 February 2008, a container wagon struck and partially destroyed the historic footbridge at the southern end of the station, joining Anzac Square with the industrial zone close to
1935-658: Was formed in 1978 to operate excursions on the Otago Central Railway line, running its first train in October 1979. The services grew in popularity and the Trust realised by the 1980s that it had great tourist potential. New carriages were acquired with the "Taieri Gorge Limited" launching in February 1987. On 19 December 1989, the New Zealand Railways Corporation announced the closure of the Otago Central railway line beyond Taieri owing to
1980-469: Was leased from KiwiRail . It has since been repainted in Dunedin Railways' blue livery and is now under their ownership. Privately owned A 3022 is leased from its owners since 2013. In 2018, Dunedin Railways purchased six big-window AO/ASO class carriages from KiwiRail . Two of these have since been converted to all-steel framing and reclassified as ADR. In the early 2000s, the TGR investigated
2025-982: Was returned to KiwiRail in 2019. Dunedin Railways formerly operated a shunting locomotive, T 111 at their Dunedin depot as their resident shunting locomotive. This locomotive was obtained by the Otago Excursion Train Trust in 2009 from enthusiast Reid McNaught, who had leased the locomotive to Dunedin Railways since 2006. It was sold to the Canterbury Railway Society in July 2015. All trains as of January 2017 include some of Dunedin Railways five former New Zealand Railways 47" 6' foot wooden-clad carriages. These cars are known as " Scarrett' " heritage carriages and were built between 1912 and 1923 with open platform ends, gangways and 37 seats. Dunedin Railways has started retiring these carriages largely to provide bogies for their 56-foot carriage stock, which did not have their own bogies when they were purchased. Two of
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