Rimutaka Tunnel the first fully dieselised line in New Zealand. Today, DBR, DC, DFT and DX class locomotives run the route. There have been proposals to electrify the tunnel and the Wairarapa line as far north as Masterton as an extension of the Wellington suburban electrification. The tunnel was designed to enable catenary to be installed but this has not happened, and the catenary finishes just north of Upper Hutt station. In 2007, Greater Wellington Regional Council rejected a call to electrify the tunnel, on the basis that patronage did not justify the expenditure, and that the tunnel would "have to be
Railway electrification in New Zealand Tunnel (1955) and the Kaimai Tunnel (1978). The Rimutaka Tunnel required an intermediate ventilation shaft. From 1967 diesel locomotives (D class) replaced electric locomotives (E class) on freight trains south of Paekakariki on the Kapiti Line after the track in some older tunnels was lowered, so diesels could run under the catenary into Wellington. On two existing electrified tunnels the electrified section was only a small part of the total line. Hence the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel was operated by diesel locomotives from 19 September 1970. The Otira Tunnel was long and steep, so for dieselisation from 1997 a door and