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.

In June 1928, 250 men employed by the Public Works Department (many living in government houses or huts) were dismissed, to be replaced by NZR staff.

[15][16] As late as 1939 £45,000 was provided for extension from Taneatua to Opotiki[17] and a route pegged out as far as a proposed Waimana railway station.

The rail bridge at Te Aroha is now a walkway over the Waihou River; the route from the tunnel to Waikino through the Karangahake Gorge is now a walkway; from Waikino to Waihi the Goldfields Railway heritage line preserves the old railway, and State Highway 2 runs through the Athrenee Gorge along part of the original rail alignment.

[21] There were proposals to keep the 14.3km Apata - Katikati section of the railway open as a branch line to carry kiwifruit exports to the Port of Tauranga.

[22] The proposal gained the support of Associated Minister of Railways, Aussie Malcolm, who announced on 26 June 1981 that the section would be retained.

[20] In the end, deregulation of land transport and the creation of the New Zealand Railways Corporation in 1982 led to the re-evaluation of the business proposal to reopen the line, resulting in the decision to lift the remaining section on 18 June 1982.

[20] On 30 July the National Union of Railwaymen announced that its members had banned the lifting of the line, which proceeded anyway and was completed by 1983.

[20] A paper written in 2008 for the then railway infrastructure owner ONTRACK (now KiwiRail Network) investigated the possibility of electrifying the East Coast Main Trunk from Hamilton to Tauranga.

The last train ran on 7 February 1959, and was replaced by a railcar service as far as Te Puke, due to negligible traffic to Taneatua.

Along with the Geyserland Express it used the Silver Fern railcars that had been used on the North Island Main Trunk line.

[28] To provide extra capacity crossing loops were added about 2012 at Ruakura, Eureka, Motumaoho, Tamihana and Apata.