u/Richard_Seddon

When covering the Springfield mixed train, I originally did not intend to cover the historically connected Whitecliffs branch. My focus is primarily on passenger trains rather than freight, and this line saw very little passenger patronage. However, the question of why the railway deviated to Darfield was raised.

The answer largely comes down to coal. Christchurch desperately needed it, and importing it from Australia was expensive. While coal was found in the Malvern Hills, transporting it was difficult. In 1867, when the railway reached Norwood (then called Selwyn North), coal was hauled there by horse from Coalgate. Travellers followed this same route, which is still called Coaltrack Road today.

The Provincial Government knew a better solution was needed. They built a narrow-gauge railway up to Kirwee, intending to split the line: one branch to Malvern North, and another heading towards South Malvern via Darfield.

However, once the track reached Darfield, they shifted their focus. Malvern North (Sheffield) became the higher priority because it had both coal and passengers wanting to transfer to stagecoaches bound for the West Coast.

Despite this pivot, the South Malvern line was completed the following year in 1875. There were even plans to extend the railway further to Lake Coleridge, going so far as to future-proof the terminus bridge over the Selwyn River for combined road and rail traffic. This rail extension never eventuated. When the Lake Coleridge Dam was eventually built in 1914, materials were transported over the route by road trains pulled by traction engines instead.

During the Victorian period, the line enjoyed steady traffic driven by local industry and agriculture. The hills provided excellent clay for bricks and pottery, and local coal fired the kilns. Substantial wheat and sheep farming in the area also helped sustain the route. The South Malvern brickworks closed early in 1903, but the Glentunnel operation survived until 1983. By the 1920s, concerns regarding the line's overall economic viability were beginning to surface.

Passenger traffic was always very light because it was a secondary branch line. Lacking a direct connection to Christchurch, travellers were forced to transfer at Darfield for the Springfield or Greymouth trains. Passenger services were briefly replaced with a bus in 1928. When this proved too expensive, rail services returned in 1930 using a combined passenger carriage and guard's van, but this ended in 1949. Highly seasonal Sunday excursion trains also operated for hikers until 1954 and steam excursions took heritage locomotives trains up the line to see the "old railway route".

Despite some attempts to save the line, it was ultimately closed in 1962 due to its lack of profitability, and the tracks were subsequently removed.

Stations on the line:

• Hawkins
• Homebush
• Coalgate
• Glentunnel
• South Malvern
• Whitecliffs

The greater Christchurch area once had a number of mixed trains running from country towns into Christchurch City in the morning and vice versa in the evening. These trains combined goods vans and passenger carriages and often operated on the numerous branch lines in the area.

​After looking at the suburban services on the Lyttelton line, Rangiora line, and the Burnham line, I thought it would be interesting to look at the Springfield mixed train. This was the last mixed train in the area.

​Whilst people associate Springfield with the Midland railway, its history starts much earlier.

​The Malvern Hills Coal Solution

​After the Canterbury Provincial Government built their main line down to Burnham in 1868, they faced a shortage of coal for their capital city. Requiring it to be imported from Australia made running the railway and heating buildings in Christchurch more expensive.

​Their solution was to quickly build a railway from the mainline at Rolleston up to the coal fields of the Malvern Hills. This line was designed to split into two: one branch going to South Malvern (Whitecliffs) and the other heading North to Malvern (Sheffield). They quickly realised that the Northern branch was considerably more promising and had better potential to connect up to the West Coast, so the Sheffield line became the primary focus.

​Extension to Springfield

​Following the completion of the railway to Sheffield in 1874 and to Whitecliffs in 1875, the central government took control of railway construction. They extended the line up to Springfield at the end of 1879, with the official opening at the beginning of 1880.

​Springfield quickly grew in size and importance. It acted as a transfer spot between the train and stagecoaches for those heading to the West Coast during the gold rush, and it became a crucial hub for the wool industry and the export of wheat to Australia.

​Picnic Trains

​From the start of the 20th century until 1917, the Springfield train was even extended on Saturdays up to Kowai Bush and Otarama for hiking and picnics. This may have been a bit of a publicity stunt to encourage public support for the costly and slow building of the Midland line, allowing the public to see the engineering progress being made toward the West Coast.

​The Route to the Coast and Final Decline

​In 1914, the line was extended out to Arthur's Pass with an extra dedicated passenger train service operating Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. In 1923, with the opening of the Otira tunnel, this service extended all the way to the West Coast, becoming the predecessor to today's TranzAlpine.

​Despite these new passenger services passing through, Springfield generated enough local traffic to dedicate its own mixed train service throughout this entire period. It stopped at all the stations apart from Middleton, allowing it be used by anyone on the route to commute into town.

​The era finally ended in late 1968. New Zealand Railways terminated the service after it became uneconomical following the conversion to diesel operation. Although there have been calls for a similar service to be reinstated over the years, including recently, these have not been successful due to economic reality.

In the 60s, the service last operated Monday to Saturday:

• 7:50am Springfield-Christchurch
• 4:20pm Christchurch-Springfield

Stations on the line:

1. Springfield
2. Annat
3. Sheffield
4. Waddington
5. Racecourse Hill
6. Darfield
7. Kirwee
8. Aylesbury
9. Sandy Knolls
10. Rolleston
11. Templeton
12. Islington
13. Hornby
14. Sockburn
15. Addington
16. Christchurch

Apologies to nzrailmaps for bludging your modern photos of some of the stations.

Following my look at the stations on the Lyttelton line and up to Rangiora, I thought I would continue by exploring the stations on the South Line served by the Burnham Flyer and its spiritual predecessors.

Unlike Christchurch's other two suburban routes, the train to Burnham only provided a single service in each direction per day. While long-distance trains to other destinations offered limited additional options, they only stopped at a couple of the larger main stations along the way.

What made the Burnham commuter run truly unusual was that the bulk of its patronage travelled in an inverse flow. Instead of bringing suburban residents into the city centre, most passengers commuted out of Christchurch to the stations along the line in the morning and returned to the city in the evening, creating a dedicated outward "workers' train." This pattern was driven by the development of Canterbury's major processing industries along the southern rail corridor, far from the city's working class residential suburbs.

Though the service began closer to the city as a mixed train, it was extended out to Burnham during World War II and eventually became a dedicated passenger service known as the Burnham Flyer in 1949. This service continued running until 1967. The final services ran on Christmas Eve of that year, consisting of the 7:30 am departure to Burnham and the 4:35 pm return to Christchurch, completing the trip in 38 minutes. The train was permanently replaced by New Zealand Railways (NZR) Road Services buses, which had already been supplementing the rail timetable.

Stations served by the Burnham Flyer:

1. Christchurch
2. Addington
3. Middleton
4. Sockburn
5. Hornby
6. Islington
7. Templeton
8. Rolleston
9. Burnham

Following the strong interest in my post a fortnight ago about the stations on the Lyttelton line, I thought I would continue by looking at the stations on the Rangiora train service. This service travelled from Christchurch's Western dock platform for a short distance on the Main South Line until Addington Junction, where it branched off along the Main North Line that heads north towards Picton.

Some stations were skipped by express trains, whilst others were request stops, meaning the train would only halt if someone was visible on the platform or if a passenger had asked the guard to get off. I have found it completely impossible to find any photographs of some of the smaller stations, such as Kainga, Chaneys, and Flaxton, though they featured small shelters the same as the one at Bryndwr. Kainga replaced the station at Stewart's Gully when a new bridge and track alignment were built between Chaneys and Kaiapoi in 1958.

Both the Rangiora and Lyttelton routes had multiple services per day; however, unlike Lyttelton, the Rangiora route was primarily limited to peak-time commuter services. Over time, the railway increasingly used railcars to provide the bulk of these services. While Fiat (88-seater) railcars were commonly used, others have noted the use of Vulcan (50-seater) railcars as well. Some of the night services were also 'mixed' trains, meaning passenger carriages were coupled with goods vans carrying freight.

The railcars were withdrawn from the late 1960s as the Northern Motorway opened. At this point, the Ab class steam locomotives were swapped for Dg class and later newer Dj class diesel locomotives, which hauled a single daily train. This final service continued until 1976.

Stations on the line:

1. Christchurch
2. Addington
3. Riccarton
4. Bryndwr
5. Papanui
6. Styx
7. Belfast
8. Chaneys
9. Kainga
10. Kaiapoi
11. Flaxton
12. Southbrook
13. Rangiora

Only Rangiora remains, although there is still an unused overgrown Belfast platform. Kaiapoi lost half its building in 1976, moved away from the railway in 2000, lost its verandah in 2010 and is now a cafe by the river bank. On the other hand, Papanui is still there, but heavily converted into a restaurant.

Simplified timetable for 1965:
Rangiora to Christchurch

	Mon. to Fri. Railcar	Mon. to Fri. Train	Mon. to Sat. Railcar	Mon. to Fri. Railcar
Rangiora	6.57am	7.25am	3.56pm	6.15pm
Kaiapoi	7.10	7.40	4.04	6.25
Belfast	-	-	4.15	-
Papanui	7.26	8.01	-	*
Christchurch	7.42	8.17	4.30	6.53

Christchurch to Rangiora

	Mon. to Sat. Railcar	Mon. to Fri. Train	Mon. to Fri. Railcar	Sun. to Fri. Mixed Train
Christchurch	9.15am	4.40pm	5.20pm	8.00pm
Addington	-	4.45	5.25	-
Papanui	9.27	4.56	5.35	-
Belfast	*	5.06	5.43	-
Kaiapoi	9.42	5.19	5.54	-
Rangiora	9.53	5.34	6.07	8:40

Actual map released by a Waimate district Councilor of their plans.

Kind of explains why their council is nearly bankrupt.

I don’t think enough people know about the excellent historical aerial photography available on the Canterbury Maps website. This allows you to view old aerial photos in a way that mimics satellite view in Google Maps, making it easy to see what Christchurch and Canterbury looked like from above over the last 100 years.

If you go to the main page and click on 'History and Cemeteries', it brings up a list of aerial image map overlays. These images were originally taken to assist with urban development and resource management, so coverage varies depending on what the goverment was focused on at the time. Sometimes there are no photos of Christchurch in a specific set because the focus was on rivers or farmland instead.

The options range from Lyttelton Harbour in the 1920 through to high definition images from last year. The quality of the images can be a bit hit or miss, as some are so blurry you wonder why they bothered and coverage varies by year, but the best sets are definitely 1940-1944, 1960-1964, and 1970-1974.

This service is run by ECan with assistance by the other councils. Looking at some of the questions in their current user survey, it feels like they might not be getting much traffic. It’s a fantastic resource and well worth checking out. Hopefully, if more people use it, they will see the value in keeping it around.

Summary: Winston Peters was in Christchurch on Friday and suggested that a national passenger rail policy will be announced before the November election. He noted that the policy would be based on Mainland Rail’s initiative as a "common sense" model for the rest of the country.

While opening the Waltham maintenance hub, he spoke about using existing heavy rail tracks for commuter services to link Rangiora and Rolleston to the city. He called this a clear alternative to the $200m he said was wasted on Auckland’s light rail.

When asked about potential government funding, Peters told the crowd to "stand back and watch", hinting that a formal policy for heavy rail passenger services is on the way.

The managing director of Mainland Rail’s parent company, Ian Ladd, confirmed they are keen to start a full commuter trial. He believes they can provide an affordable service for Canterbury by using the tracks already in the ground.

ECan’s senior strategy manager, Jesse Burgess, said the council is in talks with Mainland Rail to look at passenger demand and pricing.