Taumarunui railway station


Taumarunui railway station is the main railway station in Taumarunui, New Zealand, serving the Northern Explorer service between Auckland and Wellington. Historically, it was an important intermediate stop with a refreshment room on the North Island Main Trunk line; the subject of the ballad "Taumarunui on the Main Trunk Line" by Peter Cape.

History

In December 1900, the telephone line was extended to Taumarunui. Goods ran between Ongarue and Taumarunui from 2 February 1903, with the railway line opening on Friday 29 May 1903. Extension southward began with goods to Matapuna from 22 June 1903. On Tuesday 1 December 1903 the line between Poro-O-Tarao and Taumarunui was transferred from the Public Works Department to New Zealand Railways.
The station building opened on 1 December 1903, and included a cattle-yard, engine-shed, and railway workers' cottages.
The prime minister, Sir Joseph Ward, addressed a crowd of several hundred at Taumarunui on Saturday 8 August 1908, when the first Wellington to Auckland train paused at the station. When regular through trains started on 9 November 1908, southbound passengers stayed overnight at Taumarunui. By 11 January 1909 the General Manager gave permission for passengers to sleep on the trains, owing to lack of accommodation at Taumarunui and Ohakune. As well as complaints about the quality and quantity of rooms, there was also praise for Taumarunui boarding houses and hotels. Through expresses started to call during the night at Taumarunui from 14 February 1909, with only 5 minutes at the station.
NIMT express trains began from 14 February 1909. Trains also ran to Stratford from 1933.
Refreshment rooms opened on 1 November 1909 and closed on 21 February 1975. In 1920 accommodation was provided for refreshment staff and in 1940 a hostel for female refreshment room staff was added.
The platform was extended in 1905 and alterations made to the stationmaster's house in 1908. By 1909, the station had a by goods shed, a loading bank, sheep yards, a crane, water service, coal accommodation, fixed signals, urinals and a passing loop for 98 wagons. Within 2 years, the goods shed had been doubled in length.
A turntable from Auckland was installed temporarily in 1902. It was replaced by one of in 1907 and again by one of in 1929, costing £3060. In 1903, an engine shed was moved from Poro-O-Tarao to Taumarunui.A new goods shed was built by Johnson Brothers Ltd for £30,000 in 1966. The original station was replaced by a two-storey building, officially opened by Prime Minister Robert Muldoon on 10 July 1977. The new building housed the Taumuranui C.T.C Train Control room until 1994 when train control was moved to Wellington. The new panel that was installed in 1986 controlled from Hamilton to Marton and featured in the 1988 Destinations production by NZR. When the electrification was installed on the N.I.M.T, a new lineside telephone system was installed that connected to the Taumuranui C.T.C room. In 2016 the sidings to the north of the station were used to stable 110 former Auckland trains, displaced by electrification. They were removed in 2025.

Services

Night Limited, New Plymouth Night Express, Scenic Daylight, Silver Star, Silver Fern, Blue Streak, Northerner and Overlander all stopped at the station. On Friday 21 January 1983 the last passenger train ran between New Plymouth and Taumarunui. The station closed on 25 June 2012, when the passenger stop was dropped from the Northern Explorer's schedule, except for pre-booked groups of 10+. The stop was reinstated from 4 December 2022.As shown in the table and graph, passengers increased rapidly, reaching a peak in 1923.
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19042,3464https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1904/I/1848RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1904
19059,21826https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1905/I/3767RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1905
190615,2447https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1906/II/1600RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1906
190727,7617https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1907/I/2542RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1907
190830,9778https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1908/I/2061RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1908
190935,130613https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1909/II/1832RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1909
191050,5055317https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1910/I/2050RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1910
191163,3583317https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1911/I/2497RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1911
191283,2867320https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1912/II/2420RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1912
191391,6129922https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1913/I/3693RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1913
191487,92260https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1914/I/2031RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1914
191591,76877https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1915/I/1638RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1915
191691,56450https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1916/I/1053RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1916
191791,15971https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1917/I/1123RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1917
191892,50277https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1918/I-II/1159RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1918
191995,024385https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1919/I/1231RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1919
1920111,112802https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1920/I/1349RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1920
1921114,5281,119https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1921/I-II/1452RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1921
1922116,770871https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1922/I/1409RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1922
1923120,748610https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1923/I-II/1321RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1923
1924110,813863https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1924/I/2458RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1924
1925101,489548https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1925/I/1804RETURN No. 12. Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1925
192696,5091,002https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1926/I/1930STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1926
192776,769543https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1927/I/2230STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1927
192864,646527https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1928/I/2628STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1928
192956,849618https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1929/I/2090STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1929
193049,965503https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1930/I/2212STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1930
193155,433527https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1931/I-II/1778STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1931
193244,602599https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1932/I-II/1934STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1932
193359,132605https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1933/I/1388STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1933
193468,178781https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1934/I/2278STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1934
193570,631479https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1935/I/1326STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1935
193671,523464https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1936/I/1552STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1936
193776,671547https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1937/I/1896STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1937
193869,608344https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1938/I/1652STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1938
193967,651348https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1939/I/1970STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1939
194065,131419https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1940/I/1314STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1940
194167,871385https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1941/I/1203STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1941
194275,886308https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1942/I/651STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1942
194382,526415https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1943/I/679STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1943
194485,289425https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1944/I/895STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1944
194581,617346https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1945/I/969STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1945
194688,039384https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1946/I/1548STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1946
194783,898318https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1947/I/2495STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1947
194870,357269https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1948/I/2521STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1948
194970,563244https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1949/I/2104STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1949
195068,741245https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1950/I/2366STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1950