Castlecliff Branch

Castlecliff Branch
Overview
Locale	Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand's North Island
Operation
Opened	31 October 1885 (1885-10-31)
Owner	Wanganui Heads Railway (1885-1956) New Zealand Railways (1956- )
Technical
Line length	5.88 km (3.65 mi)
Castlecliff Branch route map km Wanganui (Taupo Quay) Wanganui BranchTo Marton - New Plymouth Line. Atlantic Oil Co. private siding Wanganui CC Gas Depot private siding 2.29 Dalgety & Co. wool stores 2.84 New Zealand Refrigerating Company (Imlay Works) Castlecliff 5.8 Wanganui Harbour Board 5.94 Abattoir siding

The Castlecliff Branch is a branch line railway 5.88 km long in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is an extension of the Wanganui Branch from Taupo Quay in central Wanganui and follows the Whanganui River to Castlecliff on the South Taranaki Bight of the Tasman Sea. From its opening on 31 October 1885 until 1 February 1956 when the NZR took over,it was owned by the Wanganui Heads Railway Company, later renamed the Castlecliff Railway Company. From 5 September 2006 services on the branch (named the Castlecliff Industrial Line) were suspended but the infrastructure remained in place. In 2011 KiwiRail resumed services on part of the line.

In 1878, the Foxton and Wanganui Railway was opened. The southernmost portion between Foxton and Longburn became the now-closed Foxton Branch, the section from Longburn through Palmerston North to Marton part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, the section from Marton to Aramoho part of the Marton - New Plymouth Line, and the 5 km from Aramoho to central Wanganui, opened on 21 January 1878, became the Wanganui Branch. This line was intended to link the ports of Wanganui and Foxton with the Manawatu hinterland and form part of a trunk route from Wellington to Taranaki. However the line's terminus at Taupo Quay was roughly 6 km from Wanganui's port at Castecliff. This led to the formation of the "Wanganui Heads Railway Company" (WHRC) to provide a direct rail link to the port.