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
Kaunas Railway Tunnel be defective. In order to proceed with the construction, the bricks were being bought and delivered from the Netherlands and Germany. The construction of the tunnel was finished on 15 November 1861. The exploitation of the railway bridge over the Nemunas river started on 4 February 1862. The tunnel started operating in spring, 1862. The tunnel was opened for traffic in 1862. It was on the Lentvaris - Kaunas - Virbalis branch towards Prussia, of the Saint Petersburg-Warsaw railway. The tunnel's gauge was rebuilt to standard gauge by the Germans during World War I. The Kaunas tunnel was bombed by