Wikipedia

Otiria railway station

Otiria railway station was a station on the North Auckland line in New Zealand,[1] at its junction with the Ōkaihau and Opua Branches, at Otiria. It is now KiwiRail's most northerly station, though mothballed since 2016.[2]

Otiria railway station
Otiria in 1911
General information
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates35°23′58″S 174°00′03″E / 35.39951°S 174.000864°E / -35.39951; 174.000864
Elevation96 ft (29 m)
Line(s)Okaihau Branch
History
Opened13 April 1911 (1911-04-13)
Closed31 August 2016 mothballed
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Pokapu
Line mothballed,
station closed
4.28 km (2.66 mi) towards Whangārei 		  Opua Branch and North Auckland Line
NZR 		  Moerewa
Line closed,
station closed
2.83 km (1.76 mi) towards Opua
terminus   Okaihau Branch
NZR 		  Kawiti
Line closed,
station closed
5.23 km (3.25 mi)

History

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The railway through Otiria, linking Onerahi (46 mi 45 ch (74.9 km) away), Whangārei and Kawakawa, opened on 13 April 1911, when the final Towai-Kawakawa section was added.[3] Work then started on the Okaihau Branch, opening to Kaikohe on 1 May 1914 and Ōkaihau on 29 October 1923.[4]

An 1880 plan proposed a direct route between Maromaku and Kawakawa,[5] but by 1903 a plan had been made for Otiria station. In 1910 it was amended, as Waiharakeke Stream was too close to it. From 23 December 1910 Scoria Flat station (near Moerewa) was abandoned and its buildings and sidings moved to Otiria, about 1 mi (1.6 km) away.[6] In 1911 a hut for a caretaker, stockyards and 2 platelayers' cottages were built. In 1913 the porter asked to rent a platelayer's cottage and £21,050 was spent to build the station, stationmaster's house (£450), siding with points and crossings (£417), and signals (£150). platform (1914 asphalted), latrines (£70), coal shed, cart approach, 20 ft (6.1 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed, loading bank, stockyards, water service (two 6,000 gallon vats), latrines and a passing loop 64 for wagons. Otiria appeared in the annual returns of traffic from 1917, with timber initially very important.[7] From 26 October 1918 to 13 February 1969 there was a Post Office at the station.[8]

The rails were linked through to Auckland on 17 February 1923,[9] but, due to unstable geology, Public Works Department ran trains along the 45.43 km (28.23 mi) of the route between Huarau (the station north of Maungaturoto) Portland[10] until 15 December 1924, when trains from Auckland began running through Otiria.[11] A leased refreshment room was open from at least 1934[12][13][14] to 1969.[15] The Auckland-Opua, Northland Express cut almost 2 hours off the journey from Whangārei[10] and ran until 12 November 1956, when it was replaced by Auckland-Ōkaihau 88 seater railcars. They stopped running on 31 July 1967, as they were becoming too unreliable.[16] Mixed trains to Whangārei continued to run once a day, taking about 2 hours[17] to cover the 42 mi 55 ch (68.7 km),[8] which was only a few minutes slower than the Express had been in 1932,[18] but slower than the 1h 23m of the railcars.[19]

The final passenger train ran in 1976.[20] The line from Otiria to Opua ceased to be used in 1985, and when the Ōkaihau Branch closed on 1 November 1987, Otiria became the northernmost station.[21] On 15 August 1983 the station was closed to all traffic. In June 1987 the turntable was removed. The station building, platform, goods shed and gantry remained in 1989, but the station building was removed in 1990.[8] The station closed on 15 August 1993,[4] but timber continued to be railed until the line was mothballed from 31 August 2016.[22] A business case was published in 2019[20] and in January 2020 the Government announced the reopening and building of a container terminal as part of a $109.7m investment in Northland rail,[23] but, in June 2024, after election of a new government, KiwiRail announced that concrete sleepers already at the trackside (on which $33.5m had already been spent)[24] would remain in place, but reopening beyond the Fonterra dairy factory at Kauri would depend on building the Marsden Point branch, after a further report in 2025.[25]

Cycle Trail

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Pou Herenga Tai – Twin Coast Cycle Trail fully opened at the end of 2016,[26][27] using the trackbeds of the Ōkaihau and Opua branches,[28] linked by a gravel cycleway alongside the road through Otiria.[29]

See also

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Otiria

References

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  1. ^ "National Library of New Zealand". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Northland rail line may reopen". The Northern Advocate. 28 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Towai-Kawakawa Railway Section. Northern Advocate". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 April 1911. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). railheritage.org. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Sketch map of the exploration for a railway line from Whangarei to Kawakawa". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1880. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Public Works Statement. By the Hon. Roderick Mckenzie, Minister of Public Works. 16th October, 1911". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  7. ^ "RETURN No. 12 —continued. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1917". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Scoble, Juliet. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  9. ^ "Rail to Whangarei. Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 February 1923. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Northern main trunk. New Zealand Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 12 December 1924. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Passengers penalised. Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 December 1924. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Matamata resident on tour. Matamata Record". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 March 1934. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Attracting Industries. Northern Advocate". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 22 October 1946. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Northern Advocate". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 22 December 1949. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Refreshment Branch Services". timetableworld.com. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  16. ^ J. D. Mahoney, Kings of the Iron Road: Steam Passenger Trains of New Zealand (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1982), 13.
  17. ^ "New Zealand 1969-08". timetableworld.com. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  18. ^ "New Zealand Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 March 1932. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  19. ^ 1959-1960 timetable, 6 December 1959, retrieved 13 July 2024
  20. ^ a b "North Auckland Line Business Case" (PDF). Ministry of Transport. 9 May 2019.
  21. ^ Churchman, Geoffrey B; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990, 1991]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History (Second ed.). Transpress New Zealand. p. 95. ISBN 0-908876-20-3.
  22. ^ "Huge boost for Northland: $109m for rail network". NZ Herald. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Northland rail rejuvenation". KiwiRail. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  24. ^ "Millions spent reopening mothballed Northland railway line". RNZ. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Rail upgrade north of Whangārei aligned with Marsden Point Rail Link". KiwiRail. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Far North District Council - Cyclists can now pedal from coast to coast on the Twin Coast Cycle Trail Pou Herenga Tai". facebook.com. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Northland's Twin Coast Trail opens". NZ Herald. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  28. ^ "ex-rail/ Twin Coast Cycle Trail: Kawakawa- Moerewa leg". AllTrails. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  29. ^ "1778 Ngapipito Rd". Google Maps. May 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
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