The Wanganui Branch is a 5.00 km branch line railway in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It links Wanganui with the Marton - New Plymouth Line (MNPL) at Aramoho and has been open since 21 January 1878, although solely for freight traffic since 7 September 1959. Another branch line diverged from the Wanganui Branch near its terminus, the Castlecliff Branch. The first grant from the Provincial Growth Fund in February 2018 included $6 million for the Whanganui rail line. Construction The line out of Wanganui was constructed as part of the Wanganui and Foxton Railway. Contracts for construction were let in 1874, but various delays slowed work. By 1877, it was proceeding apace, and the five kilometres from the central Wanganui station up the western bank of the Whanganui River to Aramoho were opened for service on 21 January 1878. The line southwest to Palmerston North and Foxton subsequently became the MNPL to Marton, the North Island Main Trunk railway to Longburn, and the Foxton Branch to Foxton. The five kilometres between Wanganui and Aramoho became a branch of the MNPL from 1879 when work began on completing the line north to New Plymouth and the Taranaki region. In about 1987 the final stretch of the branch alongside the Whanganui River was closed, and it was diverted to make an end-on junction with the Castlecliff Branch. Operation Passenger services Passenger services were originally provided by slow mixed trains, with a September 1878 timetable allowing for three daily to Palmerston North. The opening of the line to New Plymouth in March 1885 led to the introduction of trains between Wanganui and Hawera, with initially two services daily. On 31 October 1885, the privately owned Castlecliff Branch opened, diverging from the Wanganui Branch near its Taupo Quay terminus. From this date until April 1932, passenger services ran multiple times daily between Taupo Quay and Castlecliff; they became increasingly uneconomic after the local tramway opened a line to Castlecliff and it was this factor that caused their cancellation. In December 1886, the New Plymouth Express began operating on the MNPL, bypassing Wanganui. A twice-daily connecting service known as "The Ferry" ran between Aramoho and Wanganui to connect with the Expresses. In Aramoho, it exchanged some carriages with the express so that passengers from Wellington or New Plymouth did not have to change trains to reach Wanganui and vice versa. By