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
Rimutaka Tunnel five-span 91 metres (300 ft) bridge across the Mangaroa River and two underpasses near Maoribank. There is a tunnel of 539 metres (1767 ft) near Maoribank, but on the eastern side where two short tunnels (220 metres (11 chain) and 180 metres (9 chain)) had been proposed through a spur it was cheaper to lengthen the line by 140 metres (7 chain) and have open cuttings. The construction of the Rimutaka Tunnel consumed: The first locomotives to work through the tunnel were the 560 kW DG class - the tunnel was too long for steam locomotives, making the Wairarapa Line