Ross Branch (railway line)

Work began in 1879, but the economic conditions of the Long Depression brought construction to a halt the next year with only 5 km of track laid.

Furthermore, the residents of Kumara, led by future Prime Minister Richard Seddon, were indignant that the railway was going to take a more coastal route than the tramway and thus bypass their town.

In 1886, work restarted, and the continued attempts from Kumara residents to have the line's route changed failed to force an alteration to the plans.

[3] To the south of Hokitika was a thickly wooded country, and with the prospect of significant logging traffic, surveys for an extension of the railway were undertaken.

[5] This would involve linking Ross to the Otago Central Railway (which at the time terminated in Omakau) via the Haast Pass and Wānaka, and this proposal was viewed favourably by Richard Seddon during his Prime Ministership in the early 20th century as a tourist route.

[13] By the early 1940s, the Vulcan railcars had replaced the Leylands and they ran all the way through from Christchurch to Ross, operating twice daily, with a Greymouth-Hokitika return service at mid-day, Monday to Friday.

The railcars operated for a few years more, but as of 9 October 1972, they ceased to run past Greymouth, removing the final passenger service on the line.

[16] The branch's primary customer is the Westland Milk Products plant, based in Hokitika, and trains are typically operated by diesel locomotives of the DC and DX classes.

[21] The West Coast Wilderness Trail from Hokitika to Ross, which incorporates the former railway route from Ruatapu south, opened on 24 October 2015.