TranzAlpine

Weaving coast-to-coast through the stunning Southern Alps, the TranzAlpine journey is one of a kind. Ranked amongst the best train journeys in the world, the TranzAlpine route is truly stunning. Cutting through the mountainous spine of New Zealand’s South Island, the railway weaves through cliff-lined river gorges, over high mountain plains, over braided rivers, and around pristine mountain lakes.

The TranzAlpine journey follows two railways on its journey from east to west. Starting in Christchurch, the journey rumbles across the expansive Canterbury Plains on the South Island Main Trunk line (SIMT). Then at Rolleston, the TranzAlpine train turns north onto the Midland Line. Following an ancient Māori trail through the mountains that was later plotted by engineer Arthur Dobson, it is the Midland Line’s passage through the Southern Alps that astounds the senses.