Rimutaka Tunnel, rail tunnel through New Zealand's Rimutaka Ranges between Upper Hutt, near Wellington, and Featherston. A disused railway tunnel now converted to pedestrian and bicycle use, near Houyet, Belgium A tunnel is an underground passage. ... The Rimutaka Range (often referred to as the Rimutaka Ranges) is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand which form a ridge running parallel with the east coast of the island between East Cape and Wellington. ... Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington, New Zealand. ... Wellington (Te Whanganui-a-Tara or Poneke) is the capital city of New Zealand, the countrys second-largest urban area and the most populous national capital city in Oceania. ... The town of Featherston is in the south of the North Island of New Zealand, east of Wellington, just east of the Rimutaka Tunnel, in the South Wairarapa District. ...

Length

The Rimutaka tunnel is the second-longest tunnel in New Zealand, and allegedly, the Southern Hemisphere. It is also the longest tunnel in New Zealand to have regular passenger services through it. End-to-end, the tunnel is 8.798 kilometres (5.467 miles). Southern Hemisphere The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planets surface (or celestial sphere) that is south of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means half ball). On Earth it contains four continents (part of Africa, Oceania, most of South America, and Antarctica) and four oceans (South Atlantic...

History

The first shot of the Rimutaka Tunnel was fired in 1948. The purpose of the tunnel was to replace the cosly Rimutaka Incline and it's Fell engines. The tunnel was opened on 3 November 1955, just 5 days after the Rimutaka Incline closed. At the time, it was the longest tunnel in New Zealand, superseding the Otira Tunnel in the South Island, but in 1978 the Rimutaka Tunnel's record was handed over by the Kaimai Tunnel (8.88 km or 5.55 mi) near Tauranga. The Rimutaka Incline was a 3-mile (5-km) stretch of steeply-graded line between Summit and Cross Creek on the original Wairarapa railway line between Wellington and Masterton in New Zealand. ... Fell system as used on the Snaefell Mountain Railway. ... November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Kaimai Range is a mountain range located in the North Island of New Zealand. ... // Introduction Tauranga (population 90,906 — 2001 census) is the major city of the western Bay of Plenty on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. ...

Design

The tunnel is not completely flat-floored, it rises into the middle at a 1 in 70 grade. Another item in the tunnel is it's vent halfway through for fumes of locomotives going through the tunnel to escape. The top of the vent can be viewed near the Pakuhatahi Tunnel on the Rimutaka Incline Walkway.

Traction

Diesel-Electric

When the tunnel opened in 1955, the first locomotives to work it were the one-year-old 792kW DG class, due to the fact the tunnel was too long for any steam locomotive. Making the Wairarapa rail line (i.e. the rail line between Woodville and Wellington via Masterton and the Hutt Valley) which runs through the tunnel the first fully dieselised line in New Zealand. Today, DBR, DC, and DX class diesel-electric locomotives run the route. The Wairarapa is a district or subregion of New Zealand occupying the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of Wellington and south-west of Hawke Bay. ... Woodville is a small town in the southern North Island of New Zealand. ... Masterton is the largest town (and local government district) in the Wairarapa region in the southeastern North Island of New Zealand. ... The Hutt Valley is the large area of fairly flat land in the Hutt River valley in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. ...

Steam

Due to the fact that the tunnel is too long, steam locomotives were not allowed through the tunnel. Also, the line was electrified from Upper Hutt through to Wellington, so there was no need for steam locomotives to go through. Even today, the annual Daffidol Carnival steam train runs from Wellington to Carterton has to be "banked" (drawn by diesel-electrics attached to the front of the extinguished steam locomotive) through the Rimutaka tunnel from Upper Hutt to Featherston. Carterton is a small town in a farming area of the Wairarapa district in New Zealand’s North Island. ...

Electric

There have been proposals in the past to electrify the tunnel and the Wairarapa line as far north as Masterton as an extension of the Wellington Suburban Electrification, so that electric multiple units can reach the Wairarapa valley. This is not possible as it would be too dificult altering the Rimutaka Tunnel so that diesel-electrics can go through the tunnel without taking 8.8 kilometres of catentry with them.

This is not totaly correct as the tunnel was degined to include catentry but this was never installed and the catentry finishes just north of Upper-Hutt station.

Use of the tunnel

Passenger

Tranz Metro operates passenger services from Wellington, through the tunnel, as far north as Masterton 6 times a day each way Monday to Friday, and twice a day each way on Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays. Also, some excursion trains go through the tunnel. Tranz Metro is the commuter rail system of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. ...

Freight

The tunnel is also used for Wellington to Napier freight trains, and for freight from the Wairarapa through to Wellington, notably wood products from the Juken Nissho timber mill at Waingawa, just south of Masterton. Napier is an important port city in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. ...