Otiria is a rural locality in the

Northland Region The Northland Region ( mi, Te Tai Tokerau) is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout the year. The main population ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. It neighbours

Moerewa Moerewa is a small town in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the Bay of Islands five kilometres to the west of Kawakawa. Moerewa is a service town for the surrounding farming industry. Its main ind ...

to the east, with the nearest major town, Kawakawa a few kilometres further eastwards. Other nearby localities include Pokapu to the south, Orauta to the west, and Hupara to the north. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "place of planting" for ''Ōtiria''.

Education

Otiria used to have a primary school. It was closed in 2005 and students were transferred to Moerewa School.

Transportation

Otiria is situated just off

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

. Otiria is the northernmost operational point of the national railway network. It is the terminus of the

North Auckland Line The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newmarket Station; from there, wes ...

, although a disused siding extends into Moerewa.

Otiria railway station Otiria railway station was a station on the Okaihau Branch in New Zealand, at its junction with the North Auckland line. The station opened on 29 November 1925 and closed on 15 August 1993. A leased refreshment room was open in 1969. See a ...

(closed in 1993) was a railway junction until the mid-1980s. The

Opua Branch The Opua Branch or Otiria-Opua Industrial Line, partially still operational as the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway, is a former section of the North Auckland Line in the Northland Region of New Zealand, between Otiria and the Bay of Islands towns ...

section of the North Auckland Line ran northeast to Kawakawa and

Opua Opua is a locality in the Bay of Islands, in the sub-tropical Northland Region of New Zealand. It is notable as the first port for overseas yachts arriving in the country after crossing the Pacific Ocean. In the original 1870s plans for the ...

, while the

Okaihau Branch The Okaihau Branch, sometimes known as the Kaikohe Branch and rarely the Rangiahua Branch, was a branch line railway that joined the North Auckland Line of the national rail network of New Zealand at Otiria. It was the most northerly line in ...

ran northwest to

Kaikohe Kaikohe is the seat of the Far North District of New Zealand, situated on State Highway 12 about 260 km from Auckland. It is the largest inland town and highest community above sea level in the Northland Region. With a population of over ...

and

Ōkaihau Ōkaihau is a small town in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island, just north of Kaikohe. State Highway 1 passes through Ōkaihau making it fairly busy. Ōkaihau has a primary school (Ōkaihau Primary School) and a secondary scho ...

. The railway through Otiria was built in the early 20th century to connect Opua and Kawakawa with Whangarei; the through route opened on 13 April 1911. This was quickly followed by the commencement of work on the Okaihau Branch from Otiria; it opened to Kaikohe in May 1914 and Ōkaihau in October 1923. In December 1925, passenger trains offering direct service to and from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

began running through Otiria. This was initially the

Northland Express The ''Northland Express'', also known as the ''Opua Express'', was an express passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between 1925 and 1956. It ran from Auckland via Whangarei to Opua in the Bay of Islands. Operation On ...

between Auckland and Opua, with carriages for Ōkaihau detached in Otiria. It was cancelled in November 1956 and replaced by 88 seater

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

s that ran between Auckland and Ōkaihau. Due to declining patronage and the poor reliability of the railcars, this service ended in July 1967.

Mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. Although common in the early days of railways, by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. Typically, servic ...

s to Whangarei continued to operate; the final passenger service through Otiria ran on 18 June 1976. The line from Otiria to Opua ceased to be used in 1985, and when the Okaihau Branch closed on 1 November 1987, Otiria became the northernmost locality served by rail in New Zealand. In 2007, one freight train was timetabled to operate every weekday each way between Otiria and Whangarei. However the line was mothballed in August 2016. As of March, 2019, a possible re-opening of all or part of the Whangarei to Otiria line for freight only is under consideration. In January 2020 the Government announced the reopening and building of a

container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

as part of a $109.7 million investment in Northland rail.

References

Bibliography

* {{coord, 35, 23, 54, S, 174, 00, 01, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Far North District Populated places in the Northland Region