Kumeu–Riverhead Section

The Kumeu-Riverhead section was a short-lived railway line north-west of Auckland, New Zealand.

The Kaipara-Riverhead Railway was built to link the eastern Waitematā Harbour at Riverhead with the western Kaipara Harbour at Helensville South, to provide more convenient access between the northern districts and Auckland and to improve export prospects for the timber industry in the Kaipara area.

The first sod was turned on 31 August 1871 by the Auckland Provincial Council, but at the start of 1872 the national government took over the job.

The railway was only 25 km long, and specific delays with acquiring rails and the general difficulties associated with the relative isolation of the time meant that construction dragged on for a few years.

The embankment on which it left Kumeū diverges from the North Auckland Line near the Kumeu River Number 1 bridge.

An NZR E class (1872) train on the railway in 1876
Old Railway Road in Kumeū is on the former railway alignment. This photo shows the eastern end of the road; the railway line continued straight ahead across Coatesville Riverhead Highway.