Opaki | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR) regional rail | |||||
 Site of the former Opaki station. | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Wingate Road, Opaki New Zealand | ||||
| Coordinates | 40°53′17.14″S 175°39′41.64″E / 40.8880944°S 175.6615667°E | ||||
| Elevation | 155 metres (509 ft) | ||||
| Owned by | Railways Department | ||||
| Line(s) | Wairarapa Line | ||||
| Distance | 97.25 kilometres (60.43 mi) from Wellington | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | 14 June 1886[1] | ||||
| Closed | 9 June 1969 (all except goods) 25 September 1972 (goods) | ||||
| |||||
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2023) |
Opaki railway station served the small rural village of Opaki, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Masterton, in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand’s North Island. It was located on the Wairarapa Line between the stations of Masterton (to the south) and Kopuaranga (to the north) with vehicular access from Wingate Road.
The station opened to all traffic in 1886 along with Kopuaranga and Mauriceville and remained in use for 86 years, seeing a variety of traffic from mixed, goods, and passenger services as well as both steam and diesel motive power. A modal shift from rail to road was largely behind the station’s demise, leading to its closure to all traffic in 1972. Despite closing before the withdrawal of all passenger and local goods services from the northern section of the Wairarapa Line, it is one of several stations (sites) on this section to have been used for railway purposes after being closed to regular traffic.
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of fine weather" for Ōpaki.[2]
- ^ Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand
- ^ "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.