Woodside Railway Station, New Zealand

Woodside
Metlink regional rail

Woodside Station
Station statistics
Address Wallace Street, Woodside
Lines Wairarapa Line
Connections Tranzit Coachlines shuttle connecting with Greytown
Platforms Single side (originally Island)
Tracks 1
Parking Yes
Bicycle facilities No
Baggage check No
Other information
Opened 14 May 1880
Electrified No
Owned by Tranz Metro
Fare zone 12[1]
Formerly Woodside Junction
Services
    ONTRACK    
Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station
toward Masterton
Wairarapa Connection
toward Wellington

Woodside railway station is a single-platform rural railway station on the Wairarapa Line serving the town of Greytown in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand, about five kilometres away in the small settlement of Woodside. The station is 30 minutes from Masterton, one hour and six minutes from Wellington, and is served by Wairarapa Connection trains.

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

Contents

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.

Woodside opened on 14 May 1880 with the extension of the line from Featherston to Greytown. Until the line between Woodside and Masterton was completed and opened in November of that year, Woodside was the northernmost point of the Wairarapa Line operated by the Public Works Department, initially with two scheduled mixed services between Greytown and Wellington each day.

The amenities at Woodside initially consisted of a station building and station master’s house. The station building was on an island platform between the main line and the Greytown Branch, with the junction at the southern end of the platform. There was road access 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 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. The Greytown station building was relocated to Woodside and modified to serve as a goods shed. 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 line to Greytown to branch-line status, Woodside became known as Woodside Junction until the closure of the Greytown Branch in 1953: the platform name board read “Woodside Junction. Change here for Greytown.”

Services

There are five Wairarapa Connection trains both ways on Monday to Thursday, six on Friday and two each way on Saturday and Sunday.

A shuttle bus service to Greytown, operated by Tranzit Coachlines, connects with commuter trains.

Gallery

Preceded by
Terminus
Stations on the Greytown Branch Succeeded by
Greytown Railway Station

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Text description of fare zone boundaries". Greater Wellington Regional Council. http://www.metlink.org.nz/fare-zones/. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 

External links