Southbridge Branch (New Zealand)
| Southbridge Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Heavy Rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| System | New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Closed (Excluding Hornby to north of Springs road | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locale | Canterbury, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | Hornby Southbridge |
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| Stations | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 28 July 1884 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Closed | 30 June 1962 (Southbridge - Lincoln) 1 December 1967 (Lincoln - Prebbleton) 1986 (Prebbleton - north of Springs Road) |
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| Owner | Railways Department | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | Railways Department | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | Rural | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 41 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | Single | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Southbridge Branch was a branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's national rail network. It was located in the Canterbury region of the South Island and operated from 1875 until 1967. Five kilometres of the line remains open as the Hornby Branch, formerly the Hornby Industrial Line.
On 2 November 1870, the Canterbury provincial government resolved to build a line from Rolleston to Southbridge, as the district around Lake Ellesmere had become an economically significant grain-growing region that produced almost a quarter of all wheat in New Zealand in the late 1860s. However, by April 1872, the decision had been taken to establish the junction with the Main South Line in Hornby and work began on the line's formation.
Financial difficulties and delays in acquiring materials slowed construction initially, but on 26 April 1875, the line was opened to Springston. This gave the line a length of 17.74 km. On 13 July 1875, the rest of the line to Southbridge was opened, giving the branch a total length of 41.02 km. In 1880, construction of a sub-branch line off the Southbridge Branch to Little River from Lincoln began; this became the Little River Branch.
The following stations were located on the Southbridge Branch (in brackets is the distance from the junction at Hornby):
In the very early years of the line, a passenger train ran once each way daily between Christchurch and Lincoln, but this service ceased before 1880 and the line settled down to a pattern of "mixed" trains that carried both goods and passengers. These trains ran twice daily in 1914, along with a daily goods-only service, and a locomotive depot operated in Southbridge. Passenger numbers peaked in 1924, with approximately 34,000 carried, and picnic trains to Lake Ellesmere were popular, but competition from road transport began to markedly increase, and the line was losing money in the late 1920s. In 1930, the decision was taken to close the Southbridge locomotive depot and operate all trains directly out of Christchurch, and this had a notable short-term impact, as the line made a profit in 1938.
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Wikipedia