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 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