Featherston railway station is a single-platform, urban railway station serving the town of

Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...

in the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in 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 ...

district of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The station lies on the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...

, and is located between Harrison Street West and Harrison Street East. It is thirty-five minutes journey time to

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

, or fifty five minutes journey time to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. This station also serves a larger area of the South Wairarapa district, in particular the residents of

Martinborough Martinborough ( mi, Wharekaka) is a town in the South Wairarapa District, in the Wellington region of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a resident population of The town ...

, as it is the closest station to several settlements outside of Featherston. The station building houses a ticket office from which fares for the Wairarapa Connection service are sold. Goods have not been consigned from Featherston since 1986.

History

Formation work on the line reached Featherston on 17 August 1878, with plate-laying completed the following month in September. Though the first train reached Featherston in late September, it was not until 16 October that the railway was opened for public use. Featherston was initially a station of some importance, being the railhead for two years until the opening of the line through to Masterton. It was opened with a seven-room station building, a goods shed, a locomotive shed and watering facilities for the locomotives, but no coal supply until 1888. There were also refreshment rooms, but they, along with the locomotive depot, were removed in 1891. With the closure of the engine shed, all locomotives working the southern Wairarapa district – with the exception of the locomotive working the Greytown Branch – were based at Cross Creek. The original wooden station building was replaced with the present-day structure in 1982. The goods shed was demolished, but the loading bank and two loops remain. An aggregate supplies company now occupies the area of the yard where the goods shed used to be. all remaining sidings were in the process of being removed except the 1st road.

Future

In 2019/20 the GWRC is to "renew" the Featherston railway station. As part of the

New Zealand Upgrade Programme New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

announced by the government on 29 January 2020, a second platform will be installed at Featherston.

Services

The only trains with scheduled stops at Featherston station are the passenger services of the Wairarapa Connection. There are five such services both ways Monday to Thursday, six services on Fridays and two services each way on Saturdays and Sundays. There is a shuttle bus service operated by Wairarapa Coachlines to transport passengers between Martinborough and the Featherston railway station. These services are timed to meet the daily commuter trains, however there is currently (as at August 2013) no service on Sunday.

Gallery

Image:Featherston railway station.JPG Image:Featherston_railway_station_02.JPG, Southern entrance to the yard and Bell St. level crossing. Image:Featherston_railway_station_03.JPG, Aggregate supplies company yard occupying the former site of the goods shed. Image:Featherston_railway_station_04.JPG, Platform and car park. Image:Featherston_railway_station_05.JPG, Northern entrance to the yard and signals. Image:Featherston_Railway_Station_2008.jpg

References

External links

* Passenger service timetables fro
Metlink
an
Tranz Metro

Wairarapa Coach Lines
{{Wairarapa Line stations Public transport in the Wellington Region Railway stations in New Zealand Railway stations opened in 1878 Buildings and structures in the Wairarapa 1878 establishments in New Zealand Featherston, New Zealand