These lines ran from coastal centres inland and were intended to provide better communication and transport for young, fledgling communities and to open up parts of Canterbury for greater, more intensive economic activity – mainly agriculture.
A Royal Commission of New Zealand's railways in 1880 recommended the early completion of this link to Sheffield, and despite the Long Depression, it was finished and opened on 28 July 1884.
This was seen as the first portion of the Canterbury Interior Main Line, and although the 1880 Royal Commission disapproved of the proposal, it remained on the table for a number of years.
However, increasing usage of road transport in the early 20th century began to impact the number of passengers and freight carried by rail and the economic viability of any interior main line sharply declined and the proposal disappeared.
By 1930, it was clearly accepted that the proposal would never come to fruition, as evidenced by the closure of the Oxford to Sheffield link on 14 July 1930.