Rimutaka Tunnel Rimutaka Tunnel The Rimutaka Tunnel (officially Tunnel 2, Wairarapa Line) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line. The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November 1955, is long. It was the longest tunnel in New Zealand, superseding the Otira Tunnel in the South Island until the completion of the Kaimai Tunnel (8.88 km, 5.55 miles) near Tauranga in 1978. Rimutaka remains the longest tunnel in New Zealand with scheduled passenger trains. The tunnel was built as part of a deviation to replace the costly Rimutaka
Rimutaka Incline the Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust was inaugurated with the intention of reinstating the Rimutaka Incline in four stages: Upper Hutt to Summit; Wellington to Upper Hutt (using KiwiRail's Wairarapa Line); Summit to Cross Creek; Cross Creek to Featherston. The base of operations is on land leased from KiwiRail at Maymorn. Largely thanks to the establishment of the Remutaka Rail Trail, most of the original formation has been preserved and is proposed to be incorporated into the reinstated rail operation, with new works required at Maymorn to link the original formation to the station yard and a deviation at Kaitoke