Construction of a tramway from the Main South Line at Pukeuri to Duntroon commenced the next year with approval from the Otago provincial government.

This arrangement lasted for over three years while the company and government disputed ownership, primarily due to the fact the line terminated at Hakataramea rather than being built to the full extent of original plans.

A single mixed train departed Kurow for Oamaru in the morning and returned in the late afternoon, taking roughly three hours each way.

It did not prove popular and it was replaced by a passenger train hauled by a steam locomotive on 10 November 1928 running to the railcar's schedule, but this was withdrawn on 12 July 1930 due to the Great Depression.

Special passenger trains still ran on occasions, notably in 1931 for sightseers along the Public Works Department (PWD) line to the under-construction Waitaki Dam.

By the 1940s, traditional traffic such as livestock and agricultural supplies were declining as competition from road transport increased, and the primary freight became goods for the Upper Waitaki Hydro Scheme.

When the project was completed in the early 1980s, the line ceased to have a reason to exist and it closed on 5 June 1983, with the final train two days later to collect rolling stock.

[7] The most significant remnant is in Duntroon, where the station building has been preserved as a community crafts centre and a base for farmers' markets, and a water tank stands nearby in good condition.