Otiria
Otiria | |
|---|---|
 Otiria Junction showing railway yards, the railway station, and several trains, 1930s | |
  Otiria | |
| Coordinates:35°23′54″S174°0′1″E/ 35.39833°S 174.00028°E | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Region | Northland Region |
| District | Far North District |
| Postcode | 0281 |
Otiriais a rural locality in theNorthland Regionof New Zealand'sNorth Island.[1]It neighboursMoerewato the east, with the nearest major town,Kawakawaa few kilometres further eastwards. Other nearby localities includePokaputo the south,Orautato the west, andHuparato the north.
The New ZealandMinistry for Culture and Heritagegives a translation of "place of planting" forŌtiria.[2]
Education
[edit]Otiria used to have a primary school. It was closed in 2005 and students were transferred to Moerewa School.[3]
Transportation
[edit]Otiria is situated just offState Highway 1.
Otiria is the northernmost operational point of thenational railway network.It is the terminus of theNorth Auckland Line,although a disused siding extends into Moerewa.Otiria railway station(closed in 1993) was a railway junction until the mid-1980s. TheOpua Branchsection of the North Auckland Line ran northeast to Kawakawa andOpua,while theOkaihau Branchran northwest toKaikoheandŌkaihau.The railway through Otiria was built in the early 20th century to connect Opua and Kawakawa withWhangārei;the through route opened on 13 April 1911.[4]This was quickly followed by the commencement of work on the Okaihau Branch from Otiria; it opened to Kaikohe in May 1914 and Ōkaihau in October 1923.[5]
In December 1925, passenger trains offering direct service to and fromAucklandbegan running through Otiria. This was initially theNorthland Expressbetween Auckland and Opua, with carriages for Ōkaihau detached in Otiria. It was cancelled in November 1956 and replaced by88 seaterrailcarsthat ran between Auckland and Ōkaihau. Due to declining patronage and the poor reliability of the railcars, this service ended in July 1967.[6]Mixed trainsto Whangarei continued to operate; the final passenger service through Otiria ran on 18 June 1976.[7]The line from Otiria to Opua ceased to be used in 1985, and when the Okaihau Branch closed on 1 November 1987, Otiria became the northernmost locality served by rail in New Zealand.[8]In 2007, one freight train was timetabled to operate every weekday each way between Otiria and Whangarei.[9]The line was mothballed in August 2016. As of March, 2019, a possible re-opening of all or part of the Whangarei to Otiria line for freight only is under consideration.[10]In January 2020 the Government announced the reopening and building of acontainer terminalas part of a $109.7 million investment in Northland rail.[11]
References
[edit]- ^"Place name detail: Otiria".New Zealand Gazetteer.New Zealand Geographic Board.Retrieved27 June2008.
- ^"1000 Māori place names".New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.
- ^"Mergers, Closures and New Schools, January 2005 - December 2005"(XLS).Education Counts.
- ^H. J. Hansen and F. J. Neil,Tracks in the North(Auckland: H. J. Hansen, 1992), 86-88.
- ^David Leitch and Brian Scott,Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways,revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995]), 9.
- ^J. D. Mahoney,Kings of the Iron Road: Steam Passenger Trains of New Zealand(Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1982), 13.
- ^Churchman & Hurst 2001,p. 96.
- ^Churchman & Hurst 2001,p. 95.
- ^New Zealand Train Timetable Guide [https://web.archive.org/web/20071010052133/http:// railnz.co.nz/times/TrainTimetableGuide.htm Archived2007-10-10 at theWayback Machine,effective 17 June 2007, last updated 21 June 2007, accessed 27 June 2008.
- ^'Northland rail line may reopen' The Northern Advocate, March 28, 2019[1]
- ^"Northland rail rejuvenation".KiwiRail.Retrieved2020-01-31.
Bibliography
[edit]- Churchman, Geoffrey B; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990, 1991].The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History(Second ed.). Transpress New Zealand.ISBN0-908876-20-3.