work proceeded at both ends of the tunnel, with the rate of progress determined by the difficulty encountered in drilling through the rock. by the time work started on the canterbury southern railway, 91.66 chains of the 130.66 chain total length had been bored. hole-through was achieved on the morning of 28 may 1867 from the lyttelton heading to the heathcote side. temporary rails had been laid through the tunnel by mid-november, enabling the passage of the first locomotive, no. 3, on the night of 18 november. the first goods train through the tunnel was headed by no. 3 and driven by abraham beverley a week later, to be followed by passenger services on 9 december.