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 Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. As the new railway would not be carrying heavy loads and would be travelling only a short distance, it was built as a narrow gauge railway, with a track gauge of . This allowed the new branch tunnel to be built to far smaller dimensions than the existing tunnel, at just high and wide. Although a cable haulage system had initially been considered, Ramsgate Olympia decided early in the line's planning to electrify the line. A third rail system was rejected due to concerns for the safety of the large numbers of children expected to