Paraparaumu Railway Station

Paraparaumu Railway Station in Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand is an intermediate station on the Kapiti Line for Tranz Metro's electric multiple unit commuter trains from Wellington. Paraparaumu was the terminal station of the commuter service from 1983 to 2011, when the service was extended to Waikanae.

History

The station was opened on 2 August 1886 (Hoy says c1886), and was on the Wellington-Manawatu Line from Wellington to Longburn built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR). The section was opened on 3 November 1886 at Otaihanga.^[1]

The original station building, a WMR Class Six or Flag Station, was replaced by the Class Four building from Shannon in 1893 (Hoy says early 1900s). After the WMR line was acquired by the Government in 1908 the station continued to serve passengers on NIMT services.

During the 1970s Wellington commuter services began to serve the station. These services were hauled by diesel locomotives - usually the DA class - from Paekakariki which was the-then terminus of the electrification. These were a combination of carriage trains and DM/D class EMUs under tow.

The electrification was subsequently extended to Paraparaumu and opened on 7 May 1983, soon after the arrival of the Ganz-Mavag EM/ET class EMUs which dominated services for most of the next 30 years. The commuter service was extended further to Waikanae on 20 February 2011 which coincided with the introduction of the new Matangi EMUs to service.

The station layout itself has changed over the years. Prior to the electrification being extended to Waikanae (along with the double-tracking from Mackay's Crossing) the station had a bay platform west of the mainline, a side platform on the mainline (effectively forming an island platform) and a loop line on the eastern side. The upgrade works have seen a new side platform constructed on the new down main (the former loop line) and a pedestrian underpass built to connect the two platforms, replacing an earlier overbridge connecting the platforms to a car park. The bay platform has been retained but does not see regular usage. It is the only station on the Wellington network with more than two platforms other than Wellington station.

Services

With the opening of the extension of commuter services to Waikanae, Paraparaumu station is no longer the terminus of Kapiti Line services. In morning and evening peak the station sits in the outer section (north of Porirua station) and services run all stations to or from Porirua and express between Porirua and Wellington. Off peak services stop at all stations.

The station is also served by the Capital Connection in both directions, which runs express between Paraparaumu and Wellington. It was formerly a stop on the Overlander service between Auckland and Wellington, but was not retained initially when that service was replaced by the Northern Explorer in June 2012. Following public feedback it was reinstated in October 2012.

The station also serves as a major interchange point with Metlink bus services.

References

External links

• Photo of train at Paraparaumu station, 1900s
• Photo of trains at Paraparaumu station, c1910
• Photo Paraparaumu station and bus depot, 1938 photo
• Photo Paraparaumu station bus depot and buses, c1938 photo
• Photo Paraparaumu station and car park, photo taken before upgrading in 2010-2011
• Ontrack: Improvements to Paraparaumu, Waikanae stations 2010-11
• "Wellington Station upgrades (2009-2010)". KiwiRail. Retrieved 2012-02-19.