Woodside Railway Station, New Zealand

Infobox Station
name=Woodside
type=Metlink regional rail


image_size=
image_caption=Woodside Station
address=Wallace Street, Woodside
coordinates= coord|41|4|2.61|S|175|24|7.05|E|type:railwaystation_region:NZ
line=Wairarapa Line
other=Tranzit Coachlines shuttle connecting with Greytown
structure=
platform=Single side (originally Island)
levels=
tracks=1
parking=Yes
bicycle=No
baggage_check=No
passengers=
pass_year=
pass_percent=
pass_system=
opened=1880-05-14
closed=
rebuilt=
electrified=No
ADA=
code=
owned=Tranz Metro
zone=12 [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=Woodside Junction
services=s-start
mpassengers=

Woodside railway station is a single-platform, rural railway station serving the town of Greytown in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The station lies on the Wairarapa Line, and is located in the small settlement of Woodside, about five kilometers from Greytown. The station is thirty minutes journey time to Masterton, or one hour, six minutes journey time to Wellington. Trains for the Wairarapa Connection service stop at this station. This station is sometimes referred to as Greytown station, a designation that is incorrect even though it is the closest railway station to Greytown.

The station building has, in recent years, been restored by the Woodside Station Preservation Society.

History

The original survey for the Wairarapa Line, completed in 1876, considered two possible routes for the line between Featherston and Masterton: the Central route and the Western route. Despite the protestations of the residents of Greytown, the Western route was chosen due to concerns about the possibility of flooding north of Greytown, which meant that the line bypassed Greytown and passed through Woodside instead. The arrival of the rails at Woodside coincided with the opening of the Greytown Branch on 14 May 1880. Until the line between Woodside and Masterton was completed and opened in November of that year, Woodside remained the northern-most extent of the Wairarapa Line operated by the Public Works Department, initially with two scheduled mixed services between Greytown and Wellington each day.

The amenities available at Woodside initially consisted of a station building and station master’s house. The station building was located on an island platform that was between the main line and the Greytown Branch, with the connection between the two being at the southern end of the platform. There was road access to the station from north of the platform. The branch (eastern) side had two loops, with capacities for 18 and 11 wagons, while on the main line (western) side, there were two longer loops with capacities for 44 and 35 wagons.

Upon the closure of the Greytown Branch in 1953, the main line yard was removed, and the station building relocated to a new platform on the western side of the main line. A new crossing loop was installed, and the branch sidings reconfigured for the new requirements. The Greytown station building was relocated to Woodside and suitably modified to serve as a goods shed. Today, the goods shed is disused and all loops have been removed.

With the opening of the line through to Masterton, and the reversion of the section between Woodside and Greytown to branch-line status, Woodside became known as Woodside Junction until the closure of the Greytown Branch in 1953. The name board on the station platform during the years of its connection with the branch read: “Woodside Junction. Change here for Greytown.”

Services

The only trains with scheduled stops at Woodside station are the passenger services of the Wairarapa Connection. There are five such services both ways Monday to Thursday, six services on Fridays and two services each way on Saturdays and Sundays.

A shuttle bus service, operated by Tranzit Coachlines, ferries passengers between Greytown and Woodside with scheduled services timed to meet the commuter trains.

Gallery

References

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Footnotes

External links

* Passenger service timetables from [http://www.metlink.org.nz/section10.php Metlink] and [http://www.tranzmetro.co.nz/ Tranz Metro] .
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