The East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) is a railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, originally running between Hamilton and Taneatua via Tauranga, connecting the Waikato with the Bay of Plenty. The ECMT now runs between Hamilton and Kawerau, with a branch line to Taneatua from the junction at Hawkens. The line is built to narrow gauge of 1,067 mm, the uniform gauge in New Zealand. It was known as the East Coast Main Trunk Railway until 2011, when the word "Railway" was dropped.
DBR1199 hauling a train in Karangahake Gorge, 1980, on the former route
Former ECMT rail bridge in Karangahake Gorge. The bridge is now part of a public walkway and the Hauraki Rail Trail cycleway.
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is 682 kilometres (424 mi) long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of 1,067 mm and serves the large cities of Palmerston North and Hamilton.
Panorama of the Raurimu Spiral.
Approaching Auckland CBD through the eastern suburbs on the Westfield deviation to the North Island Main Trunk.
In the 1930s, the Wellington end was deviated from Wellington to Tawa Flat by the Tawa Flat deviation, including two long tunnels. The deviation is the centre two tracks, with the Wairarapa Line's Ngauranga station in the background, alongside State Highway 1.
EW1805 hauling DC 4611 near Paekākāriki on the electrified Wellington section. This section of the North Island Main Trunk was electrified in 1940.