Suburban passenger services in Christchurch were eventually cancelled due to lack of patronage. By 1951, the mixed trains to Little River and Southbridge had disappeared, with the Ashburton passenger service following in 1958 and the last run of a mixed train to Springfield in June 1968. With the opening of the Lyttelton road tunnel in 1964, patronage of passenger trains to Lyttelton slowly declined to the point where it was remarked that the number of passengers using the trains could easily be accommodated on a bus. This soon became the case, with the Christchurch to Lyttelton services ended on 28 February 1972. The Christchurch to Rangiora services were cancelled four years later on 30 April 1976, and the steamer express connections between Lyttelton and Christchurch followed on 14 September 1976, with cancellation of the overnight Wellington – Lyttelton inter-island ferries.