The TranzAlpine: Christchurch to Greymouth by Train

The route

The line is the Midland Line, built over almost forty years and finished in 1923. The TranzAlpine has run on it under that name since 1987. Westbound, it leaves Christchurch at 8.15 in the morning and runs out across the Canterbury Plains, past Rolleston and Darfield, to Springfield at the foot of the hills. From there it climbs into the Southern Alps, threading the Waimakariri Gorge on ledges and viaducts, then follows the river’s wide braided bed up to Cass and Arthur’s Pass.

Beyond Arthur’s Pass the train enters the Otira Tunnel and comes out on the western side of the main divide, a different climate and a different colour of green. It runs down the valleys past Moana, on the shore of Lake Brunner, and follows the Grey River into Greymouth, arriving a little after 1pm. The return train leaves Greymouth an hour later and reaches Christchurch at about 6.30 in the evening.

What the rail journey is like

For the first hour the plains are wide and quiet: paddocks, shelter belts of tall trees, irrigators, and the mountains growing slowly ahead. Then, after Springfield, the line turns into the hills and the ride changes completely. The train winds through short tunnels and out over the gorge, the river glinting a long way down, and the passengers start moving towards the open carriage.

Out there, writers reach for the same words. “A cool blast of alpine air,” wrote Lorna Subritzky in the New Zealand Herald. “It is feverishly windy, hang on tight,” wrote Frances Lawson in her travel blog in December 2023. The viewing carriage is shared by everyone in Scenic class, and it fills up in the gorge. Subritzky’s advice was to wait an hour, when the first rush has gone back to its seats. Justine Tyerman, also in the Herald, stayed outside so long that she missed, by her own count, 95 per cent of the commentary.

Arthur’s Pass is the high point of the day in every sense. The station sits at 737 metres, among bare peaks that carry snow for much of the year. The stop is short, and the platform is busy and often cold. Then the train goes into the Otira Tunnel. It is about 8.5 kilometres long and falls more than 250 metres to the west, at a gradient of 1 in 33. When it opened in 1923 it was the longest tunnel in the British Empire. The open carriage is closed for the tunnel, and inside it goes dark and quiet. Kathryn Webster, writing in AA Directions, described the carriage as “everyone hushed, stilled, waiting to emerge.”

The West Coast side is softer: bush, rivers and lakes, and often rain. Riders including Ashley Probst and Lorna Subritzky met rain or drizzle on this side, and Greymouth itself is a working town rather than a resort. Most agree that the finest scenery is between Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass.

Not everyone is won over. Ashley Probst, writing for Business Insider in November 2025, rode there and back in a day and found that “the landscapes were breathtaking, but the return journey felt repetitive.” She suggests riding one way only. Locals have their own complaint: the fare. Heath Milne of Development West Coast told Newstalk ZB that the train was “likely out of reach for the average Kiwi family.”

The stages

Times are for the westbound train and come from third-party timetables, chiefly Seat61. Great Journeys New Zealand does not print clock times on its own site, so check them when you book.

The plains: Christchurch to Springfield

The first hour is the gentle part. The train runs straight and level across the Canterbury Plains, past farms, small towns and long lines of trees planted against the nor’west wind. On a clear morning the Southern Alps stand along the whole horizon ahead. Springfield, where the plains meet the hills, is the last stop before the climb.

The gorge and the high country: Springfield to Arthur’s Pass

This is the stretch people come for. The line climbs into the Waimakariri Gorge, crossing a series of viaducts; the highest, the Staircase, stands about 73 metres above the stream, and the Broken River viaduct about 55 metres. Above the gorge the valley opens into the wide shingle flats of the upper Waimakariri, with lakes beside the line and the mountains close on both sides. This is the time to be in the open carriage.

The tunnel and the West Coast: Arthur’s Pass to Greymouth

After Arthur’s Pass the train runs into the Otira Tunnel and descends all the way through it. On the climb back east, a door at the Otira portal closes behind the train and a fan draws the fumes out. Westbound, you come out at Otira into steeper, wetter, greener country, and the line follows the river valleys down to Lake Brunner. The last half hour runs beside the Grey River into Greymouth, the West Coast’s largest town.

Stops worth breaking the journey for

The train makes several stops, and you can get off at any of them and catch the next day’s train, or the same day’s return. These four are the ones worth time.

Springfield

The small town at the foot of the hills, where the plains end and the climb begins. The train stops briefly here before the line turns towards the gorge. It is a good place to start a drive or a cycle into the high country, and the road and rail run close together from here to Arthur’s Pass.

Arthur’s Pass

An alpine village inside a national park, and the best place to get off. Ride out in the morning, arriving at about 10.52, and catch the returning train at about 16.28. That gives five and a half hours for walks such as the Devil’s Punchbowl track, about an hour’s return to a waterfall 131 metres high. Look out for kea, the mountain parrots.

Moana and Lake Brunner

Moana is a small settlement on Lake Brunner, which Great Journeys New Zealand calls the largest lake on the West Coast. The train arrives at about 12.05 and the returning train calls at about 15.00, so there are three hours for a lakeside walk and lunch. It is known for trout fishing, and the hotel is close to the station.

Greymouth

The end of the line, at the mouth of the Grey River. With only an hour before the train goes back, there is time to walk the floodwall to the river mouth or visit Monteith’s brewery. To see the West Coast properly, stay the night: Punakaiki and its Pancake Rocks are about 45 minutes up the coast by road.

Planning the journey

Booking, seats and fares

You must book ahead, and there is no standing room: once the train is full, nobody else gets on. Seats are not chosen when you book. The train manager allocates them, and Seat61 says you can ask for a seat on the right-hand side by phoning at least a day before. In Scenic class you get a reserved seat, the shared open carriage and the café. Scenic Plus, added in 2023, adds a host, food cooked on board with wine, and seats in a carriage of its own.

Great Journeys New Zealand shows fares only in its booking system. Published figures for a one-way adult Scenic fare range from about NZ$220 to NZ$290 depending on the season, and about NZ$500 or more for Scenic Plus. Children pay a reduced fare. Check the price for your date when you book.

On the day

Check in at least 20 minutes before departure. Suitcases, large packs and wheeled bags go into the luggage van, and only hand luggage comes to your seat. The café sells coffee, snacks, light meals, beer and wine, and Seat61 advises carrying some cash, because the card machine can lose its mobile signal in the mountains. Dress for the open carriage: it is cold and windy at the top even in summer.

One way or there and back?

You can ride to Greymouth and back in a day, but it is nearly ten hours on the train with an hour in between. Probst’s advice, and that of travellers on New Zealand forums, is to go one way, or ride only as far as Arthur’s Pass and back. The best plan is to make the TranzAlpine one leg of a South Island trip: ride west, stay on the West Coast, and continue south to the glaciers or north to Punakaiki.

When to go

The train runs every day except Christmas Day and a few published dates each year. In 2027 those are 26 to 29 March, 22 to 28 May, 25 to 28 September and 23 to 26 October. Summer brings long light and the busiest trains. Winter brings snow on the peaks and frost on the high country, and the travel company Discover New Zealand names late winter as its favourite time. Whatever the season, the West Coast end is often wet.