Okahukura railway station
Okahukura station site in 2019
Double deck bridge on Stratford branch in background
General information
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates38°48′06″S 175°13′26″E / 38.801591°S 175.22378°E / -38.801591; 175.22378
Elevation178 m (584 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 408.54 km (253.85 mi)
History
Opened1912
ClosedBefore Dec 1975 passenger
27 August 1978 goods[1]
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Previous namesOkahukora to 7 Aug 1913
Passengers
193411,940
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Te Koura
Line open, station closed		   North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail		   Taringamotu
Line open, station closed

Okahukura railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.[2][3]

The station opened when work started on the eastern end of the Stratford–Okahukura Line. It was served by through trains on that line from 3 September 1933 (though rails were completed by 7 November 1932)[4] to 2009, being 9.65 km (6.00 mi) east of Tuhua.[2] The Public Works Department operated a limited train service as far as Matiere from 1922.[5] A junction with the NIMT at Ongarue,[6] and even as far north as Puketutu[7] (via Mokauiti and Ohura)[8] had been considered before the Okahukura route was decided in 1911.[9] Work started shortly[10] after Sir Joseph Ward had turned the first sod, including the construction of workshops and 4 railway houses at Okahukura,[11] and the station opened the following year. It seems that the initial service was provided by coaches attached to goods trains.[12]

A cattle yard and goods shed were added in 1915.[13] In 1916 a porter was paid 9 shillings a week.[14]

Patronage

Okahukura railway station passenger use 1928-1950

Passenger numbers peaked in 1934, as shown in the graph and table below -

year tickets season tickets staff source
1928 9,219 59 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1928"
1929 9,379 64 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1929"
1930 8,654 63 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1930"
1931 11,279 90 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1931"
1932 9,910 111 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1932"
1933 10,822 160 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1933"
1934 11,940 119 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1934"
1935 6,739 129 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1935"
1936 6,575 129 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1936"
1937 5,989 130 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1937"
1938 5,062 114 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1938"
1939 5,431 121 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1939"
1940 3,983 110 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1940"
1941 5,094 79 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1941"
1942 6,202 111 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1942"
1943 6,536 138 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1943"
1944 6,478 144 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1944"
1945 6,757 106 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1945"
1946 7,254 86 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1946"
1947 6,012 72 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1947"
1948 4,899 14 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1948"
1949 3,279 14 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1949"
1950 3,340 26 "STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1950"
Okahukura road-rail bridge

Road-rail bridge

The concrete foundations of the 260 ft (79 m)[15] road-rail bridge over the Ongarue River, on the Stratford line had been laid by 1918, but war-time steel shortages delayed further work.[16] The first piles were sunk in 1916[15] and it had been completed by January 1922.[17]

In 2019 reopening of the line was listed as a possible future priority.[18]

Okahakura Road Rail Bridge

Okahukura tunnel

76 ch (5,000 ft; 1,500 m) long Okahukura tunnel, is 2 mi (3.2 km) up from Okahukura, along the Stratford line, on a 1 in 50 gradient.[6] It was started in February 1914 and completed in December 1920, after digging out 58,000 cu yd (44,000 m3) of mudstone.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Scoble, Juliet (April 2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  2. 1 2 New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
  3. ↑ Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: A.H&A.W Reed. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0589013165.
  4. ↑ "RAILWAY WORKS. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 November 1933. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  5. ↑ "MATIERE RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1922. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  6. 1 2 "STRATFORD-MAIN TRUNK. STRATFORD EVENING POST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 8 November 1932. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 November 1907. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "DISTRICT PARS. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 November 1907. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. BY THE HON. WILLIAM FRASER, MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1912". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 18 October 1912. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "SLOW RAILWAY-MAKING. TARANAKI DAILY NEWS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 April 1913. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  11. ↑ "THE STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 17 March 1913. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "TAUMARUNUI TRAINS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 September 1912. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  13. ↑ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. H. HERRIES. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1915". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  14. ↑ "MEMBERS OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1916". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  15. 1 2 3 "RAILWAY TO MATIERE. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 March 1923. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  16. ↑ Representatives, New Zealand Parliament House of (1918). Parliamentary Debates.
  17. ↑ "STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 January 1922. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  18. ↑ "The Draft New Zealand Rail Plan" (PDF). Ministry of Transport. December 2019.

Photo of road-rail double deck bridge about 1930

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