Palmerston North railway station is a main station on the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

serving the city of

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

in the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

region 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 ...

. It is the northern terminus of the

Capital Connection The Capital Connection is a long-distance commuter train operated by KiwiRail between Palmerston North and the capital city of Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk. In 2018 the service faced funding issues, but the Government ensured that ...

long distance commuter train to Wellington and was a major stop on the

Northern Explorer The ''Northern Explorer'' is a long-distance passenger train operated by The Great Journeys of New Zealand division of KiwiRail between Auckland and Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand, along the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). Three ...

service between Auckland and Wellington until 2021. A new Palmerston North (regional) intermodal freight hub is proposed by KiwiRail for a site to the north-east of Palmerston North. The plan has been developed with a grant of $40 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, as announced by the minister

Shane Jones Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014. Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...

on 15 November 2018. The freight hub would replace the Tremaine Avenue freight yard, which is to the east of the station and provides mainly for freight to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Milson deviation

The original

Palmerston North Central railway station Palmerston North Central railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand and the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line. The station opened in 1876 and closed in 1963. History The original station was opened on 20 Octo ...

was opened on 20 October 1876. Traffic increased with the opening of the line to Napier via Woodville in 1891, and the station was moved 30 chains (603m) south in March 1891. But it was still a bottleneck, and remained the longest-persisting bottleneck on the Main Trunk until the 1960s. Changes were recommended by Hiley in 1914, a commission in 1916 and the Fay-Raven commission in 1924–25. Construction of the Milson deviation to shift the line and station northwest and away from the centre of Palmerston North started in May 1926, but was delayed by the depression and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and objections from the local business quarter; when work was suspended in April 1929, the reasons given by Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, included the distance of the new station from the town centre. Work by the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

(PWD) was stopped on 18 April 1929, when within of completion, by Minister of Works

Alfred Ransom Sir Ethelbert Alfred Ransom (19 March 1868 – 22 May 1943) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party, then its successor the United Party, and from 1936, the National Party. He was a cabinet minister from 1928 to 1935 in the United ...

and restarted in 1938 by

Bob Semple Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New ...

but halted by the Second World War. Work finally resumed in 1957 under Minister

John McAlpine Sir John Kenneth McAlpine (21 July 1906 – 11 January 1984) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was the Member of Parliament for Selwyn from 1946 to 1966, when he retired. Biography McAlpine was born in Christ ...

, the first stage to Milson from the north-east was opened on 22 April 1954. The deviation was opened to Longburn for through goods trains on 27 July 1959. On 21 October 1963 the new station and yards were opened, and all rail traffic removed from the main street and square of Palmerston North. The old line was closed by mid-1965, and the

Awapuni railway station Awapuni railway station was a station in Kairanga County, on the Foxton Branch and, from 1908, the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, now in the Palmerston North suburb of Awapuni. It was beside the Mangaone Stream, near its confluence w ...

south of the main station on the old route was also closed. The new route was shorter than the old. Chart_of_Palmerston_North_railway_station_passengers_1881-1950

Chart_of_Palmerston_North_railway_station_passengers_1881-1950

Current use

The station currently serves one route – the Capital Connection. This service see the station visited by 1 or 2 trains per weekday – down from >60 when the station was opened. Heritage excursions also occasionally use the station. The main building is used as KiwiRail offices or storage, and the old cafeteria is used as a after-school care centre. The station is not served by a city bus route but has a taxi rank.

Gallery

File:Milson002.jpg, Official opening of Milson Deviation - 27 July 1959 File:Milson003.jpg, Milson Deviation Opening Ceremony - 27 July 1959 File:Milson001.jpg, Milson Deviation

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Pierre, Bill, ''North Island Main Trunk'' pp. 192–199 (Reed, Wellington, 1981) *

External links

Palmerston North Government offices in the ''Cyclopaedia of New Zealand'' (1897)
{{Northern Explorer train stops Railway stations in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Palmerston North Railway stations opened in 1963 Rail transport in Manawatū-Whanganui