Takapu Road railway station
Takapu Road | |
|---|---|
| Metlink suburban rail | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Boscobel Lane, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 41°11′6.94″S 174°49′41.63″E / 41.1852611°S 174.8282306°E |
| Owned by | Tranz Metro |
| Line(s) | North Island Main Trunk |
| Platforms | Dual side |
| Tracks | Mainline (2) |
| Construction | |
| Parking | Yes |
| History | |
| Opened | 19 June 1937 |
| Electrified | June 1940 |
| Services | |
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| |
Takapu Road Railway Station is on the suburban rail network of Wellington, New Zealand, on the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT). It is double tracked with side platforms. It serves the suburbs of Redwood and Grenada North.
Services
Takapu Road is served by Paraparaumu Line commuter trains operated by Tranz Metro under the Metlink brand every 30 minutes off-peak, and more frequently during peak periods. Some peak services run express between Porirua and Wellington and do not stop at Takapu Road.[1]
They are operated by electric multiple units, formerly DM/D class but now almost always EM/ET class. Two diesel-hauled carriage trains, the Capital Connection and the Overlander, both pass through the station but do not stop.
History
Takapu Road is one of only two stations on the Paraparaumu Line not on track built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR); the other is Redwood immediately to the north. The WMR built the original route of the NIMT between Wellington and Longburn and it was purchased by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) in December 1908. The original route between Wellington and Porirua, via Johnsonville and now truncated to the Johnsonville Line, was bypassed in the 1930s by the Tawa Flat deviation. Takapu Road is on the northern section of this deviation. The deviation opened for freight traffic on 24 July 1935 but Takapu Road did not open until passenger services began on 19 June 1937. The line was electrified in June 1940.[2]
According to Hoy [3]:
- Takapu Road station was built on private land. The station, and the fact that all but a few suburban trains would stop there, was part of the agreement of passing through. It is only in recent years that extra passengers have begun using the station as more homes are built in the district.
References
- ^ Metlink, Paraparaumu Line timetable, accessed 30 October 2007.
- ^ John Yonge (editor), New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, fourth edition (Exeter: Quail Map Company, 1993), 16.
- ^ Hoy, D.G. Rails out of the Capital (NZRLS, 1970] p. 74