Kaiwharawhara Railway Station 2.35

Kaiwharawhara railway station was a railway station on the North Island Main Trunk and the Wairarapa Line in Wellington, New Zealand that closed in 2013. It was the first station north of Wellington, and prior to its closure it was served by trains operated by Tranz Metro as part of the Metlink network on the Melling Line, the Hutt Valley Line and the Kapiti Line.Kaiwharawhara Station was temporarily closed on 13 June 2013, because of safety concerns about the pedestrian overbridge, which was found by visual inspection carried out by the Regional Council to have advanced corrosion. The station was closed permanently on 21 November 2013 and the overbridge was dismantled in March 2014.Kaiwharawhara had a unique platform arrangement for New Zealand. Looking north, the left-hand island platform was for up trains, the right-hand platform for down trains. The inner faces were used by Kapiti Line services on the NIMT, the outer faces by Melling Line and Hutt Valley Line services on the Wairarapa Line.HistoryThe Wairarapa Line reached the south bank of the Kaiwarra Stream in July 1873, and this section of line opened on 14 April 1874. Trains initially ran non-stop from Wellington, but on 20 April Kaiwarra opened as a stop.Kaiwarra received its first building in late 1875. About 1879 the station received a class 6 passenger shelter costing £160. It did not have either crossing loops or sidings.