New Zealand - Railway - Passengers embarking on the Public Works train at Ohura to make the journey to Okahukura. - This line is the first completed section on the Main Trunk side of the railway which will ultimately link up with Stratford, Taranaki Province. - 27/1/1927 - Unknown Photographer - Original Newspaper Clipping, published in The Auckland Weekly News #335893 - The railway network was initially constructed by the provincial governments of New Zealand from 1863 onwards. - New Zealand's first public railway was opened in that year, running the short distance between Christchurch and the wharf at Ferrymead. - Following the abolition of the provinces in 1876, railway lines were controlled by the central government and from 1880 under the New Zealand Railways Department. - In 1982, the Railways Department was corporatised into a new entity at the same time land transport was deregulated. The Railways Department became the New Zealand Railways Corporation. - Privatised in 1993, in 1995 the new owners adopted the name Tranz Rail. Rail freight volumes increased between 1993 and 2000 from 8.5m tonnes to 14.99m tonnes carried annually, and then gradually fell until 2003 to 13.7m tonnes. - The government purchased the Auckland metropolitan rail network from Tranz Rail for $81 million in 2002.