Matarawa railway station is a single-platform railway station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 on the Wairarapa Line

Wairarapa Line

The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city of Wellington with the Wairarapa region. The line ends at Woodville, where it joins the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line...

 that serves the small rural community of Matarawa in the Wairarapa

Wairarapa

Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...

 district of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is served by the Wairarapa Connection, and has five services each way on Monday to Thursday, six on Friday and two on Saturday and Sunday.

History

This station opened on 1 November 1880, when the line between Woodside Junction and Masterton

Masterton Railway Station

Masterton railway station is a single-platform, urban railway station serving the town of Masterton in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The station lies on the Wairarapa Line, and is located at the end of Perry Street. It is one hour, thirty seven minutes journey time to Wellington. Trains...

 was officially opened. Initially it had a shelter shed, loading bank and crossing loop and was used to cross trains until the introduction of signalling at the larger Wairarapa stations. In its early years several sawmills flourished in the vicinity, with timber making up a bulk of the goods loaded. The crossing loop and private sawmill sidings have been removed.

In 2006, with the introduction of the SW-class carriages for the Wairarapa Connection looming, it was proposed that this station be closed due to its low patronage and the cost involved in building a platform so that passengers could safely board and disembark from the new carriages. After vocal opposition from local residents, this proposal was rescinded.

This station was temporarily closed from 17 May 2007 to 4 June 2007 to enable construction work to proceed on preparations for the new carriages. The station was reopened on 7 June 2007 with a new platform (prior to the upgrade it did not have a platform).

External links

• Passenger service timetables from Tranz Metro and Metlink. |author= |last=Turner |first=Eric |authorlink= |date = |format= |work= |publisher=Wairarapa Greens |pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= }} |format= |work= }} |title=Matarawa - Save Our Station Protest |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZEQECJJM9U |format= |medium= |publisher=mikerb |location=Matarawa, Wairarapa
  Wairarapa
  Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...
  
  , New Zealand
  New Zealand
  New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
  
  |accessdate= |time= |quote= }} |accessdate= }}