Rimutaka Tunnel The first shot was fired in 1948 when the Public Works Department started the tunnel with bores of at the western end and at the eastern end. A contract for completing the tunnel was let to a consortium of Morrison Knudsen Inc. and Downer and Company on 7 May 1951. The work commenced at the west end in July 1951 and at the east end in August. The contract was expected to be completed in four years, but the headings met on 20 April 1954 with the concrete lining finished a month later. New Zealand Railways took possession of the
Tunnel Railway Steam Collection and remain in use, while the other three were given to the Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society. Most of the rails and sleepers were sold to the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. Following three years of renovation, the lower section of the tunnel was reopened to the public in 2014 as part of the Ramsgate Tunnels tourist attraction. The tunnels were formally reopened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in a ceremony on 27 May 2014. Tunnel Railway The Tunnel Railway (also known as the Ramsgate Cliff Railway, the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway, the Ramsgate Underground Railway and the