Linden Railway Station
Linden | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metlink suburban rail | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Rawson Street, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°09′31″S 174°49′54″E / 41.1586°S 174.8318°E | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Tranz Metro | |||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | North Island Main Trunk | |||||||||||||||
| Platforms | Island | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | Mainline (2) | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 28 July 1940 | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Linden Railway Station is located on the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) in Linden, New Zealand and is part of the suburban rail network of Wellington. It is double tracked, has an island platform layout, and is 14.91 km from Wellington Railway Station, the southern terminus of the NIMT.
Services
Linden is served by Kapiti Line commuter trains operated by Tranz Metro under the Metlink brand. Trains run every thirty minutes off-peak, and more frequently during peak periods. A number of peak services run express between Porirua and Wellington and thus do not stop at Linden Station.[1]
Services are operated by electric multiple units of the EM/ET class and FT/FP class (Matangi). Two diesel-hauled carriage trains, the Capital Connection and the Northern Explorer, both pass through the station but do not stop.
History
The line through Linden was originally part of the Wellington - Manawatu Line. Built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR), the full line to Longburn was completed in 1886 and trains were operated by the WMR until December 1908, when the New Zealand Railways Department purchased the WMR and incorporated its line into the NIMT.
On 19 June 1937, the Tawa Flat deviation was opened to the south of Linden. It eliminated the circuitous route via Johnsonville into Wellington. On June 1940, the line through Linden was electrified, and on 15 December 1957, it was double tracked.[2]
The station was opened on 28 July 1940, after more than thirty years of requests to NZR by developers, and by local residents wishing to avoid a walk of up to a mile from the Tawa Station. Apparently those wishing to alight used to pull the emergency brake cord so that the train stopped in the vicinity of Collins Avenue. Don Carman recalls passengers debating as to whose turn it was to pull the cord.[3] [4]
From April to June 2014 the corroded steel overhead footbridge was refurbished, and new lighting and signage provided.[5]
References
- Rails through the Valley: The story of the construction and use of the railway lines through Tawa by Bruce Murray and David Parsons (2008, Tawa Historical Society) ISBN 978-0-473-14410-4
- Murray, Bruce (2014). A History of Tawa. Wellington: Tawa Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-473-25848-1.