The TranzAlpine is one of the great scenic rail journeys of the Southern Hemisphere, running daily between Christchurch and Greymouth across the Southern Alps. The 233-kilometre route takes about 4.5 hours each way, climbing from the flat Canterbury Plains through the Waimakariri River gorge, ascending to Arthur's Pass through beech forest and sub-alpine scrub, entering the 8.5-kilometre Otira Tunnel under the Main Divide, and descending through the rain forest of the West Coast to the Tasman Sea coast at Greymouth.
The train is run by KiwiRail and operates once daily in each direction; the carriages include open observation cars that allow unobstructed views and cold-air exposure to the alpine landscape. The journey to Christchurch from Greymouth is typically done in the morning; the return in the afternoon gives the best light on the plains. Most visitors do the return trip in a single day, spending a few hours in either Greymouth or Arthur's Pass village. For those with more time, an overnight in Greymouth allows a morning on the West Coast before catching the afternoon TranzAlpine back. The train is popular in summer — book ahead.