Kaiwharawhara Railway Station

Infobox Station
name=Kaiwharawhara
type=Metlink regional rail


image_size=
image_caption=
address=Westminster Street, Wellington, New Zealand
coordinates= coord|41|15|36.18|S|174|47|28.92|E|type:railwaystation_region:NZ|
line=Melling Line
Hutt Valley Line
Paraparaumu Line
other=
structure=
platform=Island (2)
depth=
levels=
tracks=Main line (4)
parking=No
bicycle=No
baggage_check=No
passengers=
pass_year=
pass_percent=
pass_system=
opened=1874-04-20
closed=
rebuilt=1935
electrified=June 1940
ADA=
code=
owned=Tranz Metro
zone=2 [cite web |url=http://www.metlink.org.nz/story21116.php? |title=Text description of fare zone boundaries |accessdate=2007-11-27 |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author=Metlink |last= |first= |authorlink=Public transport in Wellington |coauthors= |date= |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=Greater Wellington Regional Council |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]
former=Kaiwarra
services=s-note|text=ONTRACK
mpassengers=

Kaiwharawhara railway station is a dual island platform railway station on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and the Wairarapa Line in Wellington, New Zealand. [cite web |url=http://online.gazette.govt.nz/MSOS118/On-Line/NZGazette.nsf/6cee7698a9bbc7cfcc256d510059ed0b/2b557a3930b87496cc256d250014aa1b?OpenDocument |title=Notice of final decision to assign place names |accessdate=2008-01-05 |accessmonthday= |accessdaymonth= |accessyear= |author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=1996-08-29 |year= |month= |format= |work=New Zealand Gazette - Te Kahiti o Aotearoa |publisher=New Zealand Gazette Office at the Department of Internal Affairs |pages=2470 |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=6. North Island Main Trunk From Wellington to Auckland ... 28. Wairarapa Line From Wellington to Woodville ... ] It is the first station north of Wellington on these lines, and is served by the trains of three lines of the Wellington suburban rail network: the Melling Line, the Hutt Valley Line and the Paraparaumu Line. Wairarapa Connection, Capital Connection and Overlander trains pass this station but do not stop. All passenger services that stop at this station are operated by Tranz Metro under the Metlink brand.

Kaiwharawhara has a unique platform arrangement for New Zealand. [cite book |last=Hoy |first=Douglas G. |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Rails Out Of The Capital: Suburban Railways, Wellington |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=1970 |month= |publisher=The New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society |location=Wellington |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=77 |chapter=The Railway Today |chapterurl= |quote=The station with its two long island platforms and four parallel running tracks is the only one of its kind in the Dominion. ] Looking north, the left-hand island platform is for up trains, the right-hand for down trains. The inner faces are used by Paraparaumu Line services on the NIMT, the outer faces by Melling Line and Hutt Valley Line services on the Wairarapa Line. Just north of the station the NIMT climbs an embankment towards the bridge that takes it across the up Wairarapa Line track and Hutt Road to Tawa No. 1 Tunnel.

History

The Wairarapa Line reached the south bank of the Kaiwarra Stream in July 1873, [cite book |last=Cameron |first=Water Norman |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year=1976 |month= |publisher=New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society |location=Wellington |language= |isbn=0-908573-00-6 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=73 |chapter=Chapter 4: Construction and Operation, Wellington to Upper Hutt |chapterurl= |quote=It was not until July 1873 that the rails reached the south bank of the Kaiwarra Stream, ... ] and this section of line opened on 14 April 1874. [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=77 |chapter=Chapter 4: Construction and Operation, Wellington to Upper Hutt |chapterurl= |quote=The Hutt Railway was opened this morning ... Thus did the Evening Post of 14 April 1874 record the opening of the railway ... ] Trains initially ran non-stop from Wellington, but on 20 April Kaiwarra opened as a stop.cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Rails Out Of The Capital: Suburban Railways, Wellington |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=13 |chapter=Early Years |chapterurl= |quote=Kaiwharawhara and Ngauranga became stopping places on April 20th 1874, but the first buildings were not erected until later in the following year. ]

Kaiwarra received its first building in late 1875. About 1879, the station received a class 6 passenger shelter costing £160. It did not have either crossing loops or sidings. [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=89 |chapter=Chapter 4: Construction and Operation, Wellington to Upper Hutt |chapterurl= |quote=At this time Kaiwarra and Ngahauranga both received sixth-class stations, costing ₤160 each. Neither station had crossing loops or sidings as yet. ]

Early in the 20th century it was decided to duplicate the line between Wellington and Lower Hutt. Preparatory work was started in 1903 with construction commencing the following year, reaching Kaiwarra in 1909 and Wellington on 4 April 1911. [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=291, 293 |chapter=Chapter 13: Branch Lines and Sidings |chapterurl= |quote=Surveys and preparatory work were carried out in 1903 and in the following year work began at Lower Hutt and Petone ... The duplication reached Ngahauranga in 1908, Kaiwarra in 1909, and finally Wellington in 1911. The entire double line from Lower Hutt to Lambton was opened on 4 April 1911 ... ]

In preparation for the construction of the new Wellington station in the mid-1930s and the closure of the old Thorndon and Lambton stations, new lines were laid through Kaiwarra and Kaiwarra signal box was dismantled. [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=223, 225 |chapter=Chapter 10: The Stations |chapterurl= |quote=New main lines were laid and connected at Kaiwarra. ... The Hutt Valley main lines had been completely relocated and the Kaiwarra signal box dismantled. All new signalling equipment and underground cabling were being installed, and the overhead wiring for electrification of the Johnsonville line was being erected. ]

In 1968 there was a fifth track running along the western side of the station, as evidenced today by the extra overhead wiring still in place, used to access an oil depot (just south of the Kaiwharawhara Stream), the NZR Signals Depot and several warehouses. [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Rails Out Of The Capital: Suburban Railways, Wellington |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=107 |chapter=Appendix D: Diagrams |chapterurl= |quote= ] There were small waiting sheds on each platform. [cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title=Rails Out Of The Capital: Suburban Railways, Wellington |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= |month= |publisher= |location= |language= |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages=77 |chapter=The Railways Today |chapterurl= |quote=A foot bridge leads in from the street and two small waiting sheds are the only facilities available. ] All has been removed.

ervices

Off-peak trains stop here half-hourly on the Hutt Valley and Paraparaumu Lines, hourly on the Melling Line.

Facilities

There are no shelters or other buildings nor any dedicated car parking. Access is via a footbridge from Westminster Street.

Footnotes

External links

* Train timetables from [http://www.metlink.org.nz/section10.php Metlink] and [http://www.tranzmetro.co.nz/ Tranz Metro] .
* Julie Bremner, "Wellington’s Northern Suburbs 1919-1945" (Wellington: Millwood Press, 1987) ISBN 0908582803, see 1934 photo of gang moving rails next to Kaiwarra Station on page 63.