Railway electrification in New Zealand Railway electrification in New Zealand Railway electrification was initially adopted by the New Zealand Railways in New Zealand for long tunnels; the Otira Tunnel, the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel and the two Tawa Tunnels of the Tawa Flat Deviation. Electrification of Wellington suburban services started with the Johnsonville Line and Kapiti Line out of Wellington from the 1930s. Auckland suburban services were electrified in 2014–15. Electrification of long distance services on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) dates from 1986, although KiwiRail is now considering diesel operation of the NIMT. New long tunnels e.g. the Rimutaka Tunnel and the Kaimai Tunnel
Rimutaka Incline was held in Featherston, including a visit on 29 October to Cross Creek to commemorate 50 years since the last train ran on the Incline. On the same day a "first spike" ceremony was held at Maymorn to mark the beginning of the Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust’s project to reinstate the railway. A museum dedicated to the preservation of the only remaining H-class "Fell" locomotive was opened at Featherston in 1984. H 199 had previously been given to the town of Featherston, and had been a static display in a local park from 1958. Later, a lease was secured