Johnsonville
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Metlink commuter rail | ||||||||||||||||
Location | Moorefield Road, Johnsonville, Wellington, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 41°13′24.01″S 174°48′17″E / 41.2233361°S 174.80472°E | |||||||||||||||
Owned by | Greater Wellington Regional Council | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) | Johnsonville Line | |||||||||||||||
Platforms | Single side | |||||||||||||||
Tracks | Main line (1) | |||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||
Parking | 43 spaces | |||||||||||||||
Other information | ||||||||||||||||
Fare zone | 3 | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened | 21 September 1885 | |||||||||||||||
Closed | 13 April 1968 (freight) | |||||||||||||||
Rebuilt | 1984 | |||||||||||||||
Electrified | 2 July 1938 | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Johnsonville railway station is the terminus of the Johnsonville Line, one of eight stations on the commuter branch railway north of Wellington in New Zealand’s North Island. It serves the suburb of Johnsonville, and as a bus interchange attracts traffic from other suburbs to the north and east.
The station is beside the Johnsonville Shopping Centre (also known as the "Johnsonville Mall"), a major regional shopping centre, which incorporates a Countdown supermarket. Numerous other businesses and organisations are nearby in a busy retail and commercial area.
Electric multiple unit trains are operated as part of the Metlink network to and from Wellington.
The original Johnsonville station was constructed by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company and was completed in 1883 though it was not used until the commencement of services on 24 September 1885 with the station having been officially opened along with the Wellington to Paremata section of the line on the 21st. Johnsonville was one of three stations built by the WMR on the section of the Wellington – Manawatu Line that is now the Johnsonville Line. It remained a through station following government purchase of the line and its incorporation into the North Island Main Trunk Railway, for freight until 1935 and passengers until 19 June 1937, when the Tawa Flat deviation was opened to all traffic and the old line between Johnsonville and Tawa was closed. This coincided with the opening of the new Wellington railway station.
Though the Railways Department wanted to keep the line closed, public pressure prevailed and the line was upgraded and electrified. The track between Johnsonville and Tawa was removed, and the new Johnsonville Line reopened on 2 July 1938 with Johnsonville as its terminus.
The station used to be a much more extensive facility. In the WMR days, the station consisted of a platform, wooden station building, sidings, and extensive stock yards. The original WMR station building was replaced in 1915. Up to the last major reconfiguration of the yard there were four roads beside the platform, the outer most of which served the goods shed, with a separate siding serving the stock yards. The track had been removed from one side of the island platform to make way for a car park.