Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
The TranzAlpine (804) departs Rolleston for the last leg of its journey to Christchurch on 11 August 2025.
The TranzAlpine is a passenger train operated by the Great Journeys New Zealand division of KiwiRail in the South Island of New Zealand over the Midland Line; often regarded to be one of the world's great train journeys for the scenery through which it passes (see famous trains). The journey is 223 kilometres (139 mi) one-way, taking almost five hours. There are 16 tunnels and four viaducts, with the Staircase Viaduct elevated as much as 75 metres (246 ft).
The train has become increasingly popular, and carried 204,000 passengers in the financial year ending 2007. By 2016, passenger numbers were approximately 130,000 a year, but rising again after the setback of the Christchurch earthquake, and were exceeding pre-earthquake levels.
The TranzAlpine service was suspended in 2020 and again in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed on 14 January 2022.
The TranzAlpine (804) departs Rolleston for the last leg of its journey to Christchurch on 11 August 2025.
The TranzAlpine is a passenger train operated by the Great Journeys New Zealand division of KiwiRail in the South Island of New Zealand over the Midland Line; often regarded to be one of the world's great train journeys for the scenery through which it passes (see famous trains). The journey is 223 kilometres (139 mi) one-way, taking almost five hours. There are 16 tunnels and four viaducts, with the Staircase Viaduct elevated as much as 75 metres (246 ft).
The train has become increasingly popular, and carried 204,000 passengers in the financial year ending 2007. By 2016, passenger numbers were approximately 130,000 a year, but rising again after the setback of the Christchurch earthquake, and were exceeding pre-earthquake levels.
The TranzAlpine service was suspended in 2020 and again in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed on 14 January 2022.
