First main trunk train , New Zealand

[David Benton]

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newsp ... 80810.2.19" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The First through train , from Wellington to Auckland.1908.
Joesph Ward was the Prime Minister.
Nowadays , I don't think they would send the PM over a railway line that wasn't actually properly finished.

[george matthews]

I suppose that before the opening of this line travel between those two cities would have been difficult and even more time consuming so it is not surprising that they were eager to send a delegation over even an unfinished track.

[David Benton]

exactly , George. At least 2, more like 3 days by a combination of train , stagecoach and boat. Though there probably wasn't a lot of traffic between the 2 cities, more commerce was probably carried out between these cities and Australia, or England, then between them. Ship wrecks were common.
The big change would have been for settlers in the interior. The stagecoaches could take a day to do 30 miles or so, spending most of the time bogged down in mud. and if the rivers rose , there was no way across. In much of this land , there were no road bridges before the railway came.