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Hamilton railway station, New Zealand

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Coordinates: 37°47′30″S 175°15′55″E / 37.791611°S 175.26536°E / -37.791611; 175.26536
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For the former railway station, see Hamilton Central railway station, New Zealand.

Hamilton
1980 – the 1975 Hamilton station in the middle distance, the 1909 Frankton Junction being demolished in the foreground. ECMT and NIMT branching to left and right respectively. The pre-1909 station was between the later stations.
General information
LocationFraser Street, Hamilton[1]
New Zealand
Coordinates37°47′30″S 175°15′55″E / 37.791611°S 175.26536°E / -37.791611; 175.26536
Owned byKiwiRail
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
Platforms2
ConnectionsEast Coast Main Trunk (goods only)
Construction
ParkingYes
History
Opened19 December 1877[2]
Rebuilt1975
Electrified25 kV 50 Hz AC June 1988
Previous namesHamilton,
Hamilton Junction (20 October 1879 – 1 October 1884),
Frankton Junction (1884–1955),
Frankton (1955-20/7/1975)[2]
Services
Preceding station KiwiRail Following station
Rotokauri
towards Auckland Strand
 Te Huia Terminus
Preceding station Great Journeys New Zealand Following station
Papakura
towards Auckland Strand
 Northern Explorer Otorohanga
towards Wellington
Preceding station   KiwiRail   Following station
  Historical railways  
Te Rapa Racecourse
Line open, station closed
3 km (1.9 mi)
towards Britomart 		  North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail 		  Rukuhia
Line open, station closed
8.45 km (5.25 mi)
towards Wellington
Terminus   East Coast Main Trunk   Hamilton Central
Line open, station closed
1.7 km (1.1 mi)

Hamilton railway station serves the city of Hamilton in the Waikato region of New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Frankton, hence the station's former name Frankton Junction, its name for most of its existence. The station is a Keilbahnhof, located at the junction of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) lines. The station is served by the regional Te Huia service, which runs to Auckland via Rotokauri Transport Hub and Huntly railway station twice daily in the morning, with return services in the evening and by the 6-days a week, Northern Explorer passenger service, between Auckland and Wellington.

History

[edit]

An engine shed was built at Hamilton Junction in 1882 and by 1884 there was a 4th class station, platform, cart approach, 60 ft (18 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed, loading bank, stationmaster's house, urinals and a passing loop for 38 wagons. A lean-to station building with veranda was added in 1900 and gas lighting in 1910. By 1911 the goods shed had grown to 138 ft (42 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) and there was a crane and fixed signals.[3]

Frankton Junction station consisted of an island platform located on the NIMT just north of the junction between the ECMT and NIMT. It had two signal boxes, and a locomotive depot was located in the Vee of the junction.[4] In 1909 a new, larger station was built to cope with the extra traffic of the through line to Wellington, 16 chains (1,100 ft; 320 m)[5] to the north.[6] The first Auckland - Wellington through expresses ran on 14 February 1909, taking 19 hours 13 minutes, and stopping at Frankton.[7]

Due to the end of steam operation in the North Island in 1968, the depot was closed and a new station, 400 yd (370 m) south of the existing Frankton Junction was tendered for in October 1972. On 6 December 1972 a contract was awarded to Ray Leach Ltd. and by May 1975 the station was nearly complete.[3] It was opened on 6 August 1975, with a side platform on each line. The station was renamed Hamilton at that time and the station formerly with that name, in the town centre, and its associated Road Services terminal in Ward Street, were renamed Hamilton Travel Centre.[3] The listed[8] Frankton South End signal box was relocated to the Hamilton Miniature Engineers' site at Minogue Park,[9] opposite the new Te Rapa loco depot.

The station was important in the growth of Hamilton and historically the trains calling included The Overlander, Blue Streak, Scenic Daylight, Daylight Limited, Northerner, Silver Star, Night Limited, Waikato Connection, Rotorua Express, Geyserland Express, Thames Express, Taneatua Express and Kaimai Express.


The scale of past use of the station is indicated by a 1936 report that 3 months' revenue was £7065 for tickets (27,025 sold), £1482 for parcels and £24,143 for goods, including 43,357 sheep, 5,849 cattle and 1,756,450 bd ft (4,144.8 m3) of timber.[10] The 2016 equivalent would be about $15m a year.[11]

tickets sales 1882–1950 – derived from annual returns to Parliament of "Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended"

Traffic grew steadily, as shown in the graph and table below.

year tickets season tickets staff ref.
1881 1 [12]
1882 5,883 1 [13]
1883 6,039 1 [14]
1884 7,475 1 [15]
1885 5,809 1 [16]
1886 3,634 2 [17]
1887 4,648 2 3 [18]
1888 1,719 1
1889 2,077 2 [19]
1890 [20]
1891 1,810 2 [21]
1892 2,178 3 [22]
1893 2,271 3 [23]
1894 2,758 3 [24]
1895 3,735 3 [25]
1896 3,505 4 [26]
1897 3,934 6 [27]
1898 5,188 7 [28]
1899 5,147 7 [29]
1900 5,715 8 [30]
1901
1902 11,264 3 9 [31]
1903 19,530 3 13 [32]
1904 31,845 55 12 [33]
1905 30,678 56 12 [34]
1906 24,555 58 16 [35]
1907 19,420 83 18 [36]
1908 21,098 124 20 [37]
1909 24,684 48 26 [38]
1910 31,830 63 33 [39]
1911 41,659 116 43 [40]
1912 57,009 204 48 [41]
1913 79,655 235 57 [42]
1914 80,769 313 [43]
1915 75,863 335 [44]
1916 83,163 266 [45]
1917 88,855 194 [46]
1918 84,129 89 [47]
1919 89,672 87 [48]
1920 105,146 127 [49]
1921 127,034 98 [50]
1922 130,403 90 [51]
1923 121,334 86 [52]
1924 121,751 73 [53]
1925 123,021 55 [54]
1926 119,312 92 [55]
1927 116,451 331 [56]
1928 101,809 254 [57]
1929 96,565 181 [58]
1930 82,596 342 [59]
1931 96,979 142 [60]
1932 85,485 129 [61]
1933 91,795 66 [62]
1934 98,184 74 [63]
1935 99,678 113 [64]
1936 102,403 57 [65]
1937 111,915 133 [66]
1938 110,555 575 [67]
1939 105,799 102 [68]
1940 109,174 92 [69]
1941 119,493 87 [70]
1942 140,779 93 [71]
1943 206,437 42 [72]
1944 212,403 54 [73]
1945 171,103 18 [74]
1946 169,589 74 [75]
1947 124,930 128 [76]
1948 100,369 181 [77]
1949 91,446 47 [78]
1950 91,360 33 [79]

Name

[edit]

As noted above, the station has had several names. For Te Huia it is called Frankton, to distinguish it from Rotokauri, the other station in Hamilton used by that train to Auckland.[80] Kiwirail uses Hamilton Kirikiriroa Frankton Station, to describe their Northern Explorer train stop.[81]

Services

[edit]

In 2009, the canopy over platform 1 (NIMT) was reduced in length. The ECMT carries no passenger services and its platform (platform 2) is used infrequently by excursion trains.

The station is currently served by the Te Huia service to Auckland Strand station using refurbished SA and SD coaches.[82]

Northern Explorer at Hamilton in 2024 heading north

Previous services include the Kaimai Express and Geyserland Express railcars to Tauranga and Rotorua (Koutu) respectively, which were cancelled in 2002, and the overnight Northerner, which ceased operation in 2004 under Toll Rail. The Overlander stopped at the station until 2012, until the Northern Explorer succeeded it.

The Waikato Connection commuter service to Auckland ran in 2000 and 2001.

Northern Explorer at Hamilton in 2018 heading south
Hamilton station from Massey Hall bridge, showing the NIMT platform (right) and ECMT (left). In 2006, the station still had the long canopy over the platforms
Frankton Junction about 1915
AARD Hudson buses at Frankton Junction early 1920s loaded with mailbags. The 1937 link shows that the station then had many bus connections. No bus now serves the station.
Northern Explorer at Hamilton in 2012, ready to depart for Auckland. Most of the platform canopy was removed about 2008.
Plaque next to main entrance – opened by Ron Bailey 6 August 1975
A 25-minute walk to the city centre, 7 minutes on the Western Rail Trail, or 5 minute walk to the half-hourly[83] bus

References

[edit]
  1. ^ / KiwiRail Scenic Journeys – our stations
  2. ^ a b "Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Scoble, Juliet. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  4. ^ "Map of Hamilton Borough 1927". Hamilton. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Frankton Junction". Auckland Star. 2 June 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Proposed siding additions for Frankton Junction railway station". Hamilton. November 1903. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  7. ^ "RIGHT THROUGH. WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND. EVENING POST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 February 1909. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Signal Box". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  9. ^ Cann, Ged. "Big boys' rail toys". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  10. ^ "REVENUE GOES UP. Railway Business. Frankton And Hamilton. Three Months' Activity (Auckland Star, 1936-07-04)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Inflation calculator – Reserve Bank of New Zealand". www.rbnz.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  12. ^ "RETURN No. 9. Statement of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ending 31st March, 1881". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  13. ^ "RETURN No. 10. Statement of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ending 31st March, 1882". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  14. ^ "RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1883". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  15. ^ "RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31st March, 1884". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  16. ^ "RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31st March, 1885". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
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  45. ^ "RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1916". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
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  80. ^ "Frankton". www.tehuiatrain.co.nz. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  81. ^ "Hamilton Frankton Railway Station". Great Journeys NZ. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  82. ^ "SINGLE STAGE BUSINESS CASE HAMILTON TO AUCKLAND START-UP PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE" (PDF). WAIKATO REGIONAL COUNCIL. November 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  83. ^ Dinsdale route 3 bus timetable
[edit]
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