New Zealand · Window guide
Which side of the TranzAlpine should you sit on?
A window guide to the TranzAlpine (223 km / 139 mi, 26 narrated stories), built from the same route data the Rail Journeys app uses to trigger its narration.
Operated by KiwiRail Great Journeys. Rail Journeys of a Lifetime is an independent audio guide and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any railway operator.
The short answer
- Toward Greymouth: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
- Toward Christchurch: the narrated sights are split between the two sides of the train — sit where you like and let the narration tell you which way to look for each one.
The app narrates each sight automatically as you reach it and says which side to look — this page is the same route, in order, for planning. "Left" and "right" are relative to the direction of travel.
Distances in the tables are measured along the route geometry from Christchurch and are approximate; the headline distance is the operator's published figure.
Before you board
- Cass and Otira are passed without a passenger stop (Otira is the west portal of the 8.5 km Otira Tunnel).
Toward Greymouth
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Christchurch | — | Station stop |
| 8 km (5 mi) | Leaving Christchurch | Either side | We set out from Christchurch, the largest city of the South Island and the gateway to this crossing of the Alps. |
| 19 km (12 mi) | 🚉 Rolleston | — | Station stop |
| 30 km (19 mi) | The Canterbury Plains: Out of the Dry | Either side | Look out at the flat, golden farmland running dead level to a far wall of mountains. |
| 40 km (25 mi) | The Nor'west Arch | Either side | If you spot a long, strange bar of cloud arching over the mountains ahead with clear sky beneath it, you're looking at the famous Canterbury |
| 45 km (28 mi) | 🚉 Darfield | — | Station stop |
| 52 km (32 mi) | The Braided Rivers | Either side | Watch for the wide, pale riverbeds we cross — great sweeps of grey shingle with the water split into a dozen wandering, silvery threads. |
| 68 km (42 mi) | 🚉 Springfield | — | Station stop |
| 68 km (42 mi) | Springfield & the Giant Doughnut | Either side | This small town, Springfield, marks the literal edge of the plains — the last flat, ordinary stop before the rails leave the farmland and cl |
| 76 km (47 mi) | The Climb Begins | Either side | The flat farmland is running out ahead, and the mountains have stopped being a distant blue wall — they're filling the windows now. |
| 84 km (52 mi) | The Waimakariri & the Staircase Viaduct | Either side | Look down at the river — not one channel but dozens, pale aqua threads braiding and splitting across a wide stony bed. |
| 90 km (56 mi) | Broken River & the Viaducts | Either side | We're into the high country now, and the railway is fighting for every metre. |
| 100 km (62 mi) | The High Country: Land of the Merino | Either side | The wide, tawny tussock basins the train is climbing into are the heart of the Canterbury high country — some of the most storied farming la |
| 112 km (69 mi) | *Cass* | — | Passes through — not a passenger stop |
| 112 km (69 mi) | Cass: The Lonely Station | Either side | The tiny station we're passing is Cass — barely more than a shelter and a nameboard, alone in a great bowl of tussock and mountains. |
| 116 km (72 mi) | The Waimakariri Headwaters | Either side | The river valley has opened out into a vast, stony basin ringed by bare peaks — these are the headwaters of the Waimakariri, the river we've |
| 120 km (75 mi) | Three Worlds in One Morning | Either side | Look out the window — and try to remember what it looked like when we started. |
| 136 km (84 mi) | 🚉 Arthur's Pass | — | Station stop |
| 136 km (84 mi) | Arthur's Pass: The Greenstone Road | Either side | We've reached the top — Arthur's Pass, the saddle over the Southern Alps. |
| 141 km (87 mi) | The Otira Tunnel: The Climb in the Dark | Either side | We're about to plunge into the mountain itself — a tunnel more than eight kilometres long. |
| 143 km (89 mi) | The Kea: The Parrot of the Snowline | Either side | Around the alpine stops, watch for a large, scruffy olive-green bird with a wicked curved beak — and, when it flies, a flash of brilliant or |
| 148 km (92 mi) | Otira: Into the Rain | Either side | Out of the long dark tunnel, the world is utterly transformed. |
| 149 km (93 mi) | *Otira* | — | Railway operating point — the train does not stop for passengers (west portal of the Otira Tunnel) |
| 158 km (98 mi) | The Alpine Fault | Either side | These mountains rise in a way you might not notice until it's pointed out: not in gentle foothills, but as a sudden, almost straight wall sp |
| 166 km (103 mi) | The Silver Fern | Either side | Look into the dense, dripping bush crowding the line, and search for a fern whose underside flashes a brilliant silver-white. |
| 170 km (106 mi) | Into the Beech Rainforest | Either side | Notice how, on this side of the mountains, the bush has closed in — green, wet, dense, hung with moss and ferns. |
| 193 km (120 mi) | 🚉 Moana (Lake Brunner) | — | Station stop |
| 193 km (120 mi) | Lake Brunner & Moana | Left side | The broad sheet of water opening beside us is Lake Brunner — Moana in Māori, which simply means 'the sea,' it looked so big to those who nam |
| 200 km (124 mi) | The Taramakau: One Lane for Cars and Trains | Either side | The wide river crossing here, the Taramakau, hides a wonderfully old-fashioned story. |
| 205 km (127 mi) | Kumara & the West Coast Gold | Either side | This quiet green country near the coast was once one of the wildest gold towns in New Zealand. |
| 219 km (136 mi) | Brunner: New Zealand's Worst Mine Disaster | Either side | This quiet green country along the Grey River carries a heavy memory. |
| 220 km (137 mi) | Pounamu & the Arahura | Either side | The rivers tumbling out of these West Coast mountains carry something extraordinary down with them. |
| 226 km (140 mi) | Whitebait: The West Coast's Treasure | Either side | As we near the coast, watch the river mouths for little wooden huts and long nets set out on stilts over the water. |
| 230 km (143 mi) | 🚉 Greymouth | — | Station stop |
| 230 km (143 mi) | Greymouth: The Wild West Coast | Either side | The land runs out again — this time at a grey river mouth meeting a wild, open sea. |
Toward Christchurch
| Distance from start | Sight | Look | What you'll hear about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 km (0 mi) | Greymouth: The Wild West Coast | Either side | The land runs out again — this time at a grey river mouth meeting a wild, open sea. |
| 0 km (0 mi) | 🚉 Greymouth | — | Station stop |
| 5 km (3 mi) | Whitebait: The West Coast's Treasure | Either side | As we near the coast, watch the river mouths for little wooden huts and long nets set out on stilts over the water. |
| 11 km (7 mi) | Pounamu & the Arahura | Either side | The rivers tumbling out of these West Coast mountains carry something extraordinary down with them. |
| 12 km (7 mi) | Brunner: New Zealand's Worst Mine Disaster | Either side | This quiet green country along the Grey River carries a heavy memory. |
| 26 km (16 mi) | Kumara & the West Coast Gold | Either side | This quiet green country near the coast was once one of the wildest gold towns in New Zealand. |
| 31 km (19 mi) | The Taramakau: One Lane for Cars and Trains | Either side | The wide river crossing here, the Taramakau, hides a wonderfully old-fashioned story. |
| 37 km (23 mi) | Lake Brunner & Moana | Right side | The broad sheet of water opening beside us is Lake Brunner — Moana in Māori, which simply means 'the sea,' it looked so big to those who nam |
| 37 km (23 mi) | 🚉 Moana (Lake Brunner) | — | Station stop |
| 61 km (38 mi) | Into the Beech Rainforest | Either side | Notice how, on this side of the mountains, the bush has closed in — green, wet, dense, hung with moss and ferns. |
| 65 km (40 mi) | The Silver Fern | Either side | Look into the dense, dripping bush crowding the line, and search for a fern whose underside flashes a brilliant silver-white. |
| 73 km (45 mi) | The Alpine Fault | Either side | These mountains rise in a way you might not notice until it's pointed out: not in gentle foothills, but as a sudden, almost straight wall sp |
| 81 km (51 mi) | *Otira* | — | Railway operating point — the train does not stop for passengers (west portal of the Otira Tunnel) |
| 83 km (51 mi) | Otira: Into the Rain | Either side | Out of the long dark tunnel, the world is utterly transformed. |
| 88 km (54 mi) | The Kea: The Parrot of the Snowline | Either side | Around the alpine stops, watch for a large, scruffy olive-green bird with a wicked curved beak — and, when it flies, a flash of brilliant or |
| 90 km (56 mi) | The Otira Tunnel: The Climb in the Dark | Either side | We're about to plunge into the mountain itself — a tunnel more than eight kilometres long. |
| 95 km (59 mi) | Arthur's Pass: The Greenstone Road | Either side | We've reached the top — Arthur's Pass, the saddle over the Southern Alps. |
| 95 km (59 mi) | 🚉 Arthur's Pass | — | Station stop |
| 111 km (69 mi) | Three Worlds in One Morning | Either side | Look out the window — and try to remember what it looked like when we started. |
| 115 km (71 mi) | The Waimakariri Headwaters | Either side | The river valley has opened out into a vast, stony basin ringed by bare peaks — these are the headwaters of the Waimakariri, the river we've |
| 119 km (74 mi) | Cass: The Lonely Station | Either side | The tiny station we're passing is Cass — barely more than a shelter and a nameboard, alone in a great bowl of tussock and mountains. |
| 119 km (74 mi) | *Cass* | — | Passes through — not a passenger stop |
| 131 km (81 mi) | The High Country: Land of the Merino | Either side | The wide, tawny tussock basins the train is climbing into are the heart of the Canterbury high country — some of the most storied farming la |
| 141 km (87 mi) | Broken River & the Viaducts | Either side | We're into the high country now, and the railway is fighting for every metre. |
| 147 km (91 mi) | The Waimakariri & the Staircase Viaduct | Either side | Look down at the river — not one channel but dozens, pale aqua threads braiding and splitting across a wide stony bed. |
| 155 km (96 mi) | The Climb Begins | Either side | The flat farmland is running out ahead, and the mountains have stopped being a distant blue wall — they're filling the windows now. |
| 163 km (101 mi) | Springfield & the Giant Doughnut | Either side | This small town, Springfield, marks the literal edge of the plains — the last flat, ordinary stop before the rails leave the farmland and cl |
| 163 km (101 mi) | 🚉 Springfield | — | Station stop |
| 179 km (111 mi) | The Braided Rivers | Either side | Watch for the wide, pale riverbeds we cross — great sweeps of grey shingle with the water split into a dozen wandering, silvery threads. |
| 186 km (115 mi) | 🚉 Darfield | — | Station stop |
| 191 km (118 mi) | The Nor'west Arch | Either side | If you spot a long, strange bar of cloud arching over the mountains ahead with clear sky beneath it, you're looking at the famous Canterbury |
| 201 km (125 mi) | The Canterbury Plains: Out of the Dry | Either side | Look out at the flat, golden farmland running dead level to a far wall of mountains. |
| 211 km (131 mi) | 🚉 Rolleston | — | Station stop |
| 223 km (138 mi) | Leaving Christchurch | Either side | We set out from Christchurch, the largest city of the South Island and the gateway to this crossing of the Alps. |
| 231 km (143 mi) | 🚉 Christchurch | — | Station stop |
Hear it as you pass
Every sight above has a fully narrated, source-checked story in the Rail Journeys app, triggered by GPS at the right moment — and it works with no signal. Get the TranzAlpine guide