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
Dudley Railway Tunnel trains were still allowed to use the line. It finally closed to all trains on 19 March 1993, when the section of railway between Walsall and Brierley Hill was closed after some 150 years in use. A cable laying train passed through the tunnel on 1 July 1993 - nearly four months after the line was officially closed. The railway line through Dudley is scheduled to reopen in 2023 as part of an extension to the Midland Metro,although the Metro route would not include the railway tunnel. The reutilised line will also be designed to carry heavy goods trains, which