Rukuhia railway station | |||||||||||
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 Rukuhia in 1953 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | Rukuhia New Zealand | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°51′49″S175°16′58″E / 37.863606°S 175.28266°E | ||||||||||
| Elevation | 55 m (180 ft) | ||||||||||
| Line | North Island Main Trunk | ||||||||||
| Distance | Wellington 533.84 km (331.71 mi) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 4 June 1878 | ||||||||||
| Closed | 12 September 1971 [1] | ||||||||||
| Electrified | June 1988 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Rukuhia railway station was a flag station [2] on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, located in the settlement of Rukuhia. [3] [4] It was established during an extension of the railway line in the 1870s. [5] [6] The service started with two trains a day. [7]
Opening of the line from Hamilton to Ōhaupō was delayed by subsidence at Rukuhia. [8] A service had been planned from 25 February 1878 [9] and the Governor General went over the line on 27 March 1878, [10] but opening was still postponed [11] as large quantities of gravel were poured into a hole. [12] The line finally opened on 4 June 1878. [13] The station was surrounded by peat fires in 1935. [14] A 1943 notice noted that owing to the danger of track subsidence, no engine must be allowed to remain stationary on the siding for any length of time. [15] Tests in 1981 found that the track deformed by about 12mm each time a train went over it, due to the peat swamp. [16]
A road to the station was formed in 1879, a siding in 1881, by 1882 it had a 5th class stationmaster's house and gatekeeper's house, by 1884 also a shelter shed, platform and a cart approach, 30 ft (9.1 m) by 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed and, by 1896, it had cattle yards. A passing loop for 38 wagons was added in 1908 and sheep yards by 1911. [15]
On 12 September 1971 Rukuhia closed to all traffic [15] and only a passing loop remains. [17]
