History
The line was built in the 1880s as part of the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company line to connect Wellington to Longburn. Construction started in 1879, and the first section, to Paremata, opened on 24 September 1885. The line became part of the North Island Main Trunk when the government bought the WMR in December 1908.
The line was used by railway workers from the Tarikaka Settlement in Ngaio, including early shift workers who needed to fire up steam locomotives at the Wellington depot.
Two experimental RM class railcars were briefly used on the line as NZR sought to develop economically viable railcar technology. The Westinghouse railcar was introduced in 1914 and served through to 1917. The Thomas Transmission railcar was introduced in 1916 and operated sporadically into the early 1920s. Both railcars struggled on the steep grades and revealed that further advances were needed to make railcars suitable to New Zealand's conditions.
The line became a branch when the Tawa Flat deviation of the NIMT opened to passengers in 1937, and was sometimes called The Hill (in NZR jargon). The line was electrified at 1500 V DC overhead supply, and the first passenger train using the new English Electric DM/D class electric multiple units ran on 2 July 1938. The units normal operate as two-car motor/trailer sets, four-car sets in peak hours. Additional DM/D class units were ordered for the line in 1942 and supplied in 1946.
The line was terminated in Johnsonville, about 100 m beyond the end of the current line: the State Highway 1 motorway on-ramp follows the route of the old line. Ngaio and Khandallah stations already had crossing loops, and a third crossing loop (without platform) at Wadestown plus new stations at Awarua Street and Simla Crescent were added.
Stations were added at Raroa (1940), Box Hill (1956) and Crofton Downs (1963). The line has four stations, Crofton Downs, Awarua Street, Box Hill, and Raroa on a curve.
The line was reviewed in 1984, 1993 and 2006-07 to consider either closing or upgrading it, without any significant changes being made.
Read more about this topic: Johnsonville Branch
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—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
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