International Railroad Discussion > Christchurch trams

Christchurch is still struggling to rebuild from a series of earthquakes that hit the city between September 2010 and January 2012. The worst being in June 2011 killing 185 people. Over 1,000 buildings, about a third of the central city have been demolished due to quake damage. Our first experience with Christchurch was pretty depressing. We were wandering around looking for food and drinks late in the evening. The city was really dead and it was only with the help of a friendly local couple (they personally escorted us to a place they had just left)that we found something.

The atmosphere the next morning was completely different. It was a beautiful sunny day and lots of people were out and about. This is when we chanced upon the trams. The tram line is a tourist loop in the central city that was started in 1995. I knew about it but I didn't think it was operating as much of its route was within areas cordoned off due to quake damage. It was a nice surprise to see it up and running, even if on only on part of the full loop.

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Last photo: the latest in intermodal transportation.

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Do you know if their main building...I guess you would call it a station...survive? It was an older brick building but modernized with a large glass canopy over the tracks. Just across the street from the shed which was a rather solid looking concrete structure.

Sorry, I can't say, we didn't ride it or have the time to explore much. I do know that it was not operating the north side of the loop on Armagh as parts of the street were still closed. Goggle maps is no help as their view was before the June, 2012 quake.