Paraparaumu Railway Station

Story

Paraparaumu Railway Station in Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, New Zealand is an intermediate station on the Kapiti Line for Tranz Metro's electric multiple unit commuter trains from Wellington. Paraparaumu was the terminal station of the commuter service from 1983 to 2011, when the service was extended to Waikanae.HistoryThe station was opened on 2 August 1886, and was on the Wellington-Manawatu Line from Wellington to Longburn built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company . The section was opened on 3 November 1886 at Otaihanga.The original station building, a WMR Class Six or Flag Station, was replaced by the Class Four building from Shannon in 1893 . After the WMR line was acquired by the Government in 1908 the station continued to serve passengers on NIMT services.During the 1970s Wellington commuter services began to serve the station. These services were hauled by diesel locomotives - usually the DA class - from Paekakariki which was the-then terminus of the electrification. These were a combination of carriage trains and DM/D class EMUs under tow.The electrification was subsequently extended to Paraparaumu and opened on 7 May 1983, soon after the arrival of the Ganz-Mavag EM/ET class EMUs which dominated services for most of the next 30 years. The commuter service was extended further to Waikanae on 20 February 2011 which coincided with the introduction of the new Matangi EMUs to service.