Contents

Hamilton 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
Location	Fraser Street, Hamilton[1] New Zealand
Coordinates	37°47′30″S 175°15′55″E / 37.791611°S 175.26536°E / -37.791611; 175.26536
Owned by	KiwiRail
Line(s)	North Island Main Trunk
Platforms	2
Connections	East Coast Main Trunk (goods only)
Construction
Parking	Yes
History
Opened	19 December 1877[2]
Rebuilt	1975
Electrified	25 kV 50 Hz AC June 1988
Previous names	Hamilton, 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 regionofNew 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]

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

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]

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.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 1:50,000 map
• Hamilton station on Google Street View
• 1890s photo of station and staff
• Hamilton Libraries photos of station
• 1915 view of railway yards and station
• 1927 photos of refreshment rooms
• Te Ara Encyclopedia – photo of a crowded platform in the 1930s
• NZ Railways Magazine 1 December 1934 – Frankton yesterday and today
• NZ Railways Magazine 1 June 1937 bus advert showing bus connections from station yard
• Hamilton Libraries – refreshment room breakfast menu
• 1952 photo of signal box and station
• 1975 photo of part of Frankton Junction
• 1982 photo of station and level crossing