 The between Mangamahoe and Eketahuna included the long Wiwaka tunnel, the only tunnel between the Rimutaka Incline and Woodville, and the section was opened on 8 April 1889.Construction of the section to Newman was inexplicably slow, not completed until 1896.Pahiatua was reached in May 1897, including the Mangatainoka River bridge, the longest bridge on the line at .