Platforms Dual side Parking No | Tracks Main line (2) Opened 28 April 1963 | |
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Location Bell Street, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand Owned by KiwiRail (platforms and track); Greater Wellington Regional Council (shelters and footbridge) Line(s) North Island Main Trunk Address Tawa, Wellington 5022, New Zealand Similar Takapu Road Railway, Linden Railway Station, Porirua Railway Station, Redwood Railway Station, Paremata Railway Station | ||
Kenepuru Railway Station is on the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) in New Zealand, on Wellington's suburban rail network. It is double tracked with side platforms on a curved section of the line, 16.16 km from Wellington Railway Station, the southern terminus of the NIMT. It is within walking distance of Kenepuru Hospital.
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Services
Kenepuru is served by Metlink Kapiti Line commuter trains operated by Tranz Metro. Trains run every 30 minutes off-peak, and more frequently during peak periods. Some peak services run express between Porirua and Wellington and do not stop at Kenepuru.
Services are operated by electric multiple units of the EM/ET class and FT/FP class (Matangi). Two diesel-hauled carriage trains, the Capital Connection and the Northern Explorer, both pass through the station but do not stop.
Kenepuru was considered for closure by the Greater Wellington Regional Council as it was claimed that it had low usage and requireed considerable expenditure for upgrading for the new Matangi units, and for safety reasons. However, it was announced on 5 October 2011 that it was safe for now and minor remedial work would be done to extend its life for 10 more years.
The station buildings and platforms were refurbished over the Christmas 2011 break and reopened on 24 January 2012. At a cost of over $320,000 both platforms were resurfaced, the southbound platform was strengthened and the access path to it upgraded (the first refurbishment since the station opened in 1963).
History
The line through Kenepuru was built by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR), completed to Longburn in 1886 and operated by the WMR until December 1908, when the New Zealand Railways Department purchased it and incorporated its line into the NIMT.
On 19 June 1937 the Tawa Flat deviation was opened to the south of Kenepuru. It eliminated the circuitous route via Johnsonville into Wellington. In June 1940 the line through the future site of Kenepuru station was electrified, and on 15 December 1957 it was double tracked.