Arriving in August 1874, the Great Southern Railway opened Ashburton to the world. The station became the arrival and departure platform for thousands of people coming and going over the next 128 years until all passenger services ceased in 2002. It was, in its heyday, the central hub for our community. A railway trip was a day out at the beach or to the city. Soldiers left for war, many never to return. Immigrants arrived for a new life, a chance to start afresh, and the all-important goods and mail were delivered via the railway.

You can explore over a century of stories of the Great Southern Railway in our new exhibition Bridging the Chasm. Discover how the chasm of the great Mid Canterbury plains was bridged by the railway, now linking Christchurch to Timaru, and how passengers used the service in their everyday lives from 1874 until 2002.