Ngaio Railway Station

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Ngaio
Metlink commuter rail

Ngaio railway station, looking north.
Station statistics
Address Collingwood Street, Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates 41°15′3.53″S 174°46′18.58″E / -41.2509806, 174.7718278
Lines Johnsonville Line
Connections Bus services
Platforms Dual side
Tracks Main line (1)
Crossing loop (1)
Parking 25 spaces
Baggage check No
Other information
Opened 1885-09-21
Electrified 1938-07-02
Owned by Tranz Metro
Fare zone 3[1]
Formerly Crofton
Services
    ONTRACK    
Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station
Johnsonville Line
toward Wellington
Ngaio railway station, looking south in the direction of Crofton Downs station.
Ngaio railway station, looking south in the direction of Crofton Downs station.

Ngaio railway station is one of eight railway stations on the Johnsonville Branch, a commuter branch railway north of Wellington in New Zealand’s North Island, and serves the suburb of Ngaio. The station was erected and operated by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR) on their line from Wellington to Longburn. The area served by this station used to be called Crofton, until the suburb was renamed to Ngaio in 1908.[2] From the acquisition of the WMR by the New Zealand Railways Department in 1908 until the opening of the Tawa Flat deviation in 1937, the station was on the North Island Main Trunk Railway.

Electric multiple unit trains are operated by Tranz Metro under the Metlink brand through this station in both directions to Johnsonville (to the north) and Wellington (to the south).

Contents

[edit] History

Ngaio was one of three stations constructed by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company on what is now known as the Johnsonville Branch.[3] It was opened on 21 September 1885, along with the first section of the company’s line between Wellington and Paramata.[4]

The station originally only had a single side platform, with the present-day second side platform and shelter being added at a later date. The points were manually controlled from a signal box at the southern end of the station into the 1960s,[5] with this being one of the last such sections of the line before complete automation.[2]

[edit] Operation

Passenger trains cross at this station as the Up-train platform is on a crossing loop. Runaway sidings are located at both the southern and northern ends of the station for Down and Up trains (respectively). Colour light signals are also located at both ends of the platforms.

Part of the Ngaio railway station car park.
Part of the Ngaio railway station car park.

[edit] Services

Trains run in both directions through this station, departing at half-hourly intervals, supplemented by a 13/13/26 schedule at peak times on week days.

The #45 bus route passes close by this station, along Ottawa Road and Crofton Road, at the end of Waikowhai Street.

[edit] Facilities

This station has dual side platforms with a passenger shelter on each. Access between the platforms is by way of at-grade pedestrian level crossings at both ends of the platforms. There is pedestrian access to Waikowhai Street from the Down train platform, and a car park off Collingwood Street, behind the Up train platform.

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Text description of fare zone boundaries. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  2. ^ a b Churchman, Geoffrey B. [1988] (1998). "North Island Main Trunk", The Story of The Wellington to Johnsonville Railway, Second Edition, Wellington: IPL Books. ISBN 0-908876-05-X. “In the 1920s a Main Trunk express stops at Ngaio Station (known as "Crofton Station" until 1908 when the suburb was renamed). The signal box survived into the 1960s.” 
  3. ^ Hoy, Douglas G. (1970). "The Second Railway", Rails Out Of The Capital. Wellington: The New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 22. “As well as Johnsonville two other stations were erected on this section, the first at Crofton, now called Ngaio, and at Khandallah.” 
  4. ^ "The Second Railway", Rails Out Of The Capital, 23. “... to Paramata, at which point the line was opened on September 21st 1885.” 
  5. ^ "The Railway Today", Rails Out Of The Capital, 81. “The points are operated from the small signal box also at the south end. This is however one of the odd cases when the line is manually operated as the branch is automated.”