Tokanui Branch

The Tokanui Branch, also known as the Seaward Bush Branch, was a branch line railway located in Southland, New Zealand. It diverged from the Bluff Branch south of the main railway station in Invercargill and ran for 54 kilometres in a southeasterly direction. Construction began in 1883 and it operated until 1966.

Construction

The line was built to access timber resources south-east of Invercargill and to open up the region to farming development, replacing an earlier bush tramway that had run in the area in the 1870s. Governments of the Southland Province and Otago Province had rejected a railway line due to lack of finances and an 1880 Royal Commission did not view the line as advisable. However, by 1882, the Provinces of New Zealand had been abolished and the railways centrally controlled by the New Zealand Railways Department, and despite the Long Depression, funds for construction were made available. Work commenced in March 1883 and the first section opened by 2 July 1886 to Waimatua, followed by Mokotua on 16 January 1888. The opening to Mokotua was marked by the operation of a special train from Invercargill hauled by a steam locomotive of the 1874 J class.

Tokanui

Tokanui is a community in the eastern portion of Southland District Council, located on the Southern Scenic Route about 55 km east of Invercargill and 109 km southwest of Balclutha, New Zealand.

The town is a part of Statistics New Zealand's Toetoes area. In 2001 the area had 1,659 people living it. Tokanui was also the eastern terminus of the Tokanui Branch railway line operating from Invercargill.

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Coordinates: 46°34′S 168°56′E / 46.567°S 168.933°E / -46.567; 168.933