Construction of the line was commenced by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company and finished by the Public Works Department (PWD).

The company only ever completed the section between Morrinsville and Tīrau (called Oxford at that time), and this opened on 8 March 1886.

[3] The section to Lichfield on what is now the Kinleith Branch line was opened just before the Mount Tarawera eruption (21 June 1886).

[9] Extension of the line to Taupō had been proposed several times over the years, primarily to take advantage of forestry traffic from the region.

One such proposal got as far as the construction phase in 1928, however, due to the onset of the Great Depression, work ceased a year later in 1929.

In 1968 NZR announced a proposal to construct a new line to Rotorua from Paengaroa on the East Coast Main Trunk, with an extension to the Waipa State Mill.

In December 1991 a new twice daily tourist-oriented service called the Geyserland Express was initiated, using Silver Fern railcars.

Train loads north were limited by the Tārukenga Bank west of Rotorua between Ngongotahā and Mamaku, with a steep ruling gradient of 1 in 35.

The Geyserland Express railcar service initially terminated in the Koutu freight yard until a small temporary passenger station operated by the Second Chance Train Trust opened on the northern side of the Lake Road overbridge in 1995.

In June 1995 the Rotorua District Council considered a report for building a new terminal, but the new station never eventuated.

On 13 January 2009, the Geyserland Express Trust announced that it had commissioned and received a report on the feasibility of reopening the line between Putaruru and Rotorua, which put the cost of doing so at $8.3 million.

The trust hopes that when the line is fully repaired, it will be possible for freight and passenger services to resume, with steam enthusiast operators from around New Zealand, able to bring their own excursion trains to Rotorua.