Kenepuru Railway Station
Kenepuru | ||||||||||||||||
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| Metlink suburban rail | ||||||||||||||||
 Kenepuru in December 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Bell Street, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°08′58.92″S 174°50′18.6″E / 41.1497000°S 174.838500°E | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | KiwiRail (platforms and track); Greater Wellington Regional Council (shelters and footbridge) | |||||||||||||||
| Line(s) | North Island Main Trunk | |||||||||||||||
| Platforms | Dual side | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | Main line (2) | |||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||
| Parking | No | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 28 April 1963 | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Kenepuru Railway Station is on the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) in New Zealand, on Wellington's suburban rail network. It is double tracked with side platforms on a curved section of the line, 16.16 km from Wellington Railway Station, the southern terminus of the NIMT. It is within walking distance of Kenepuru Hospital.
Services
Kenepuru is served by Metlink Kapiti Line commuter trains operated by Tranz Metro. Trains run every 30 minutes off-peak, and more frequently during peak periods. Some peak services run express between Porirua and Wellington and do not stop at Kenepuru.[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.
Kenepuru was considered for closure by the Greater Wellington Regional Council as it was claimed that it had low usage and requireed considerable expenditure for upgrading for the new Matangi units, and for safety reasons.[2] However, it was announced on 5 October 2011 that it was safe for now and minor remedial work would be done to extend its life for 10 more years.[3]
The station buildings and platforms were refurbished over the Christmas 2011 break and reopened on 24 January 2012. At a cost of over $320,000 both platforms were resurfaced, the southbound platform was strengthened and the access path to it upgraded (the first refurbishment since the station opened in 1963). [4] [5] [6]
History
The line through Kenepuru was built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR), completed to Longburn in 1886 and operated by the WMR until December 1908, when the New Zealand Railways Department purchased it and incorporated its line into the NIMT.
On 19 June 1937 the Tawa Flat deviation was opened to the south of Kenepuru. It eliminated the circuitous route via Johnsonville into Wellington. In June 1940 the line through the future site of Kenepuru station was electrified, and on 15 December 1957 it was double tracked.[7]
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
- ↑ Metlink, Paraparaumu Line timetable, accessed 30 October 2007.
- ↑ Dominion Post 28 July 2009 page A5 & Kapi-Mana News 21 July 2009 page 1
- ↑ http://www.aktnz.co.nz/2011/10/05/kenepuru-station-to-stay-open/
- ↑ Murray, Bruce (2014). A History of Tawa. Wellington: Tawa Historical Society. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-473-25848-1.
- ↑ "Upgrade work at Kenepuru Station completed". 24 January 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ↑ "Leaning Tower of Tawa". The Wellingtonian. 2012-06-16. p. 9.
- ↑ John Yonge (editor), New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, fourth edition (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 16.