Stratford–Okahukura Line

The Stratford-Okahukura Line (SOL) is a secondary railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, between the Marton - New Plymouth Line and the North Island Main Trunk Railway, with 15 intermediate stations. It is 144 km (89 mi) long through difficult country, with 24 tunnels and a number of sections of 1 in 50 grade. Near Okahukura there is an unusual combined road-rail bridge over the Ongarue River, with the one-lane road carriageway below the single rail track.^[1] The line is currently mothballed and under review as part of KiwiRail's turnaround plan.

Construction

The line was authorised in 1900, and the Hon William Hall-Jones turned the first sod of the Stratford-Kawakawa Railway at Stratford on 28 March 1901 - Kawakawa, south of Ongarue, was to be the junction point with the North Island Main Trunk Line. Construction took nearly 32 years, and the western part, from Stratford, was operated as the Toko Branch in 1902. The SOL was nearly complete before the onset of the Great Depression, so work was not halted, unlike on many public works projects such as the East Coast Main Trunk Railway beyond Taneatua.

On 7 November 1932 the last spike was driven at Heao by the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Gordon Coates, though the SOL was not handed over by the Public Works Department to the New Zealand Railways Department until 4 September 1933.

Operation

Passenger services

The SOL was initially served by the New Plymouth Night Express between New Plymouth and Auckland and by Stratford–Taumarunui passenger trains. Scheduled passenger trains ceased in January 1983 as roads in the rugged and isolated northern Taranaki were improved and passengers switched to cars, though the line was not closed to all passenger trains until January 2007, after an excursion to Whangamomona's "Republic Day" celebrations. This terminated the operation of excursions, but efforts are underway to have the line upgraded to a standard where excursions will again be possible.^[2] A working party of stakeholders was formed in June 2007 to investigate the current state of the line and to develop a case for upgrading it.^[3] Considerable deferred maintenance is required to bring the line up to safety standards required for passenger trains; this will cost approximately NZ$6 million to complete, according to Stratford Mayor Brian Jeffares.^[4]

Freight services

Most freight was for the rural hinterland, but along the SOL there were coal mines near Ohura and Tangarakau, and also sawmills. One freight train operated each weeknight each way along the line carrying freight between New Plymouth and Auckland, interchanging at Taumarunui.^[5] In recent years the deferred maintenance issues meant these services operated under heavy speed restrictions.

The SOL was upgraded in 1959-60, and a deviation and new station built at Stratford.

In conjunction with the Marton - New Plymouth Line the SOL also provided an alternative route when the North Island Main Trunk was closed between Marton and Taumarunui.

Mothballing

The SOL suffered from a lack of investment in recent years in maintenance, leading to a number of speed restrictions being put in place. In July 2002 a fatal derailment occurred at Te Wera, and a number of other incidents also plagued operations. In November 2009 a serious partial derailment of a wagon occurred, damaging some 16km of line. Following this KiwiRail has decided to mothball the 144km line^[6], with rail freight now being routed through Palmerston North. However ideas for preserving the line are emerging^[7] with hopes that customers and investment can be found to return the line to full service.

References

External links

• The Snail Rail, New Plymouth's first railway
• Coal may save railway line (April 2011)

Further reading

• The Stratford-Okahukura Line: Fifty Years of Service by R. B. Alexander (First Edition 1961; Second Edition, revised and enlarged 1983; New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Inc).
• Taranaki's First Railway by A. B. Scanlan (1977, New Plymouth)