Pukekohe railway station

Railway station in New Zealand

Pukekohe railway station is a temporarily closed railway station in Pukekohe, New Zealand. It is the southern terminus (but not for electric services) of the Southern Line of the Auckland railway network. The station has an island platform between the main lines and an original wooden station building complete with signal panel. Pukekohe was 30 mile (48 km) south of Auckland in 1882, or, in 1943, 30 mile (48 km) via Newmarket, or 32 mile (51 km) via Orakei and above sea level. In 1913 the station was rebuilt to the south, away from the town centre and it was converted to an island platform in 1941 and rebuilt again from 2016.

The railway from Ōtāhuhu reached West Pukekohe in 1873 and the line opened to Mercer on 20 May 1875, though initially there was no goods service. The station caused the town centre to be refocused along King Street. A rimu and kauri 4th class station and stationmaster's house were built in 1875. Additions were made in 1878 and 1883, so that by 1884 it also had a cart approach to the platform, a 60 feet (18 m) by 30 feet (9 m) goods shed, loading bank, cattle yards, weighbridge and urinals. In 1902 the station had an iron roof and contained a ladies' waiting room, public vestibule, railway and postal room, and porter's room. There were four sidings in connection with the station, and the staff consisted of the stationmaster, two cadets, a messenger, and a porter. There was a Post Office at the station from 1883 to 1909, Further railway houses were added in 1909, 1911 and 1955. In 1978 the platform was long. and part of the old station was used as a goods office. and the station at Pukekohe converted to an island platform in 1941.

The table and graph below show a slow growth in passenger numbers, with a peak during World War 2. At 269,000, the current numbers far exceed even that 1943 peak of 155,392, but Pukekohe's population has grown from 3,610 in 1947 to 11,676 in 2018. However, there were fewer than 100 passengers a day in 2001, but numbers rose rapidly to over 500 by 2011.
yearticketsseason ticketsstaffsourcetitle18814,6373https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1881/I/967RETURN No. 9. Statement of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ending 31 March 188118825,0043https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1882/I/824RETURN No. 10. Statement of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ending 31 March 188218835,0023https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1883/I/895RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 188318846,4693https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1884/I/844RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 188418855,771313https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1885/I/1156RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 188518866,216473RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 188618876,081483https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1887/I/920RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 188718885,107472https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1889/I/1068?large image=trueRETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 188818895,027273https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1889/I/1068RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 18891890repeats 1889https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1890/I/1064RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189018914,718283https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1891/II/1264RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189118924,502173https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1892/I/1164RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189218934,437103https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1893/I/1494RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189318944,504223https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1894/I/1388RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189418954,868123https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1895/I/1586RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189518964,93683https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1896/I/1624RETURN No. 10. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Twelve Months ending 31 March 189618975,053343https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1897/II/1610RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 189718985,883153https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1898/I/1670RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 189818996,595264https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1899/I/1824RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 189919007,066404https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1900/I/1612RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 19001901Pages 30–35 missingRETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1901190210,911495https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1902/I/1436RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1902190311,005425https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1903/I/1873RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1903190412,926755https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1904/I/1848RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1904190512,8161016https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1905/I/3767RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1905190613,5071496https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1906/II/1600RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1906190714,9531125https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1907/I/2542RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1907190816,0331066https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1908/I/2061RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1908190917,0861126https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1909/II/1832RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1909191018,5041155https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1910/I/2050RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1910191120,3251426https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1911/I/2497RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1911191225,6671198RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1912191329,5782429https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1913/I/3693RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1913191434,928287https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1914/I/2031RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1914191535,057266https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1915/I/1638RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1915191636,170279https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1916/I/1053RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1916191734,214301https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1917/I/1123RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1917191833,026265https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1918/I II/1159RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1918191933,510306https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1919/I/1231RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1919192037,080323https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1920/I/1349RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1920192144,162339https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1921/I II/1452RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1921192243,255465https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1922/I/1409RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1922192339,428272https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1923/I II/1321RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1923192439,467970https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1924/I/2458RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1924192539,773877https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1925/I/1804RETURN No. 12. Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1925192642,195978https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1926/I/1930STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1926192743,655788https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1927/I/2230STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1927192834,624568https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1928/I/2628STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1928192922,923379https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1929/I/2090STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1929193019,849252https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1930/I/2212STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1930193122,822277https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1931/I II/1778STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1931193225,160302https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1932/I II/1934STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1932193337,652289https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1933/I/1388STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1933193444,401242https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1934/I/2278STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1934193550,132193https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1935/I/1326STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1935193652,640259https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1936/I/1552STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1936193754,282229https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1937/I/1896STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1937193853,482225https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1938/I/1652STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1938193950,563219https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1939/I/1970STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1939194047,008335https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1940/I/1314STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1940194149,517276https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1941/I/1203STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1941194262,749315https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1942/I/651STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 19421943155,392393https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1943/I/679STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 19431944150,522279https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1944/I/895STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1944194574,814316https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1945/I/969STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1945194673,727280https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1946/I/1548STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1946194745,303411https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1947/I/2495STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1947194842,719577https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1948/I/2521STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1948194940,548713https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1949/I/2104STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1949195043,402475https://paperspast. natlib. govt. nz/parliamentary/appendix to the journals of the house of representatives/1950/I/2366STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 195020111,052passengers/weekday2019269,000https://www. greaterauckland. org. nz/2019/09/11/2019 rail station boardings/

Franklin Racecourse station, to the south of Pukekohe, was open from about 1921 to 1955. In 2019 journeys to Auckland took 1hr 11mins, running half hourly. Since 2000, the country town of Pukekohe has been the southern terminus for the Southern Line. However suburban trains start or terminate at the former terminus at Papakura (18.2 km north of Pukekohe) because network electrification does not extend beyond Papakura. An hourly diesel train shuttle service has operated between Pukekohe and Papakura since July 2015, when EMU electric services were inaugurated for Southern Line services. ADL class DMUs are utilised for the shuttle. The trains are stabled at Pukekohe station and Westfield depot overnight. In December 2014, the SX train (minus locomotives) and an ADK set (both decommissioned from service following the introduction of EMUs on the Auckland network) were relocated to Pukekohe for storage pending disposal. The stored trains were later relocated to Waitakere and Helensville, and then back to Westfield. In December 2014, service frequency of the shuttle service was increased to hourly on all days, including weekend services for the first time. Bus routes 391, 392, 393, 394, 396, 398 and 399 serve Pukekohe Station.

In 2011, the Auckland Council agreed to fund an upgrade to the station, along with the construction of a Park and ride facility. In 2014 Auckland Transport announced plans to upgrade Pukekohe station in two stages, with the first stage in 2015 to include a bus interchange and a Park and Ride. The upgrade also included replacement of the wooden sections of platform and a new footbridge and lifts. Auckland Transport also added a proposal to extend railway electrification to Pukekohe to its 10 year plan. Electrification of the rail line from Papakura to Pukekohe was announced in 2020; with the upgrade then planned to be completed by 2021 (see also New Zealand Upgrade Programme and Auckland railway electrification). Electrification work is to commence in 2020 (with three new stations proposed on the route). To provide space for stabling trains, KiwiRail planned to remove, or demolish, the 1913 station building by November 2021. A 2019 report said that relocating the station would be impractical and could cost almost $2.7m. It has been described as, "one of Pukekohe’s more important heritage buildings". From 13 August 2022, KiwiRail is redeveloping Pukekohe station and the rail line to allow for Auckland Transport's electric trains to travel between Pukekohe and Papakura. Pukekohe Station is closed and the Pukekohe train service is suspended until early 2025.

The $15.4 million upgrade, with a new park and ride area, improved bus station facilities and a pedestrian overbridge at the new integrated bus and train station, began construction in July 2017. The 6 bay bus station opened on 6 June 2018.