Paeroa–Pōkeno Line
{{Short description|Railway line in New Zealand}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Maplink|frame=yes|type=line|text=Map showing the section of the route that was partially constructed}}
The Paeroa-Pōkeno railway line or deviation in the upper North Island of New Zealand between Paeroa on the East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) and Pōkeno on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) was a proposed route with construction started but abandoned. The proposal has been revived in recent years as part of a more direct route between Auckland and Tauranga.
History
File:Pokeno-Paeroa_railway_bank.jpg
A request for the line was made in 1905{{Cite web |date=11 July 1905 |title=Parliamentary Jottings. Thames Star |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS19050711.2.17 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and a route surveyed in 1926.{{Cite web |date=8 March 1926 |title=LOCAL AND GENERAL. Thames Star |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS19260308.2.11 |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Proposals were also made to shorten the route by a further {{Convert|12|mi|abbr=on}}, by starting it at Manurewa and serving Hūnua.{{Cite web |date=21 April 1920 |title=The Proposed Paeroa Manurewa Railway. Ohinemuri Gazette |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OG19200421.2.14 |access-date=2023-03-11 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Work started in 1938 on the {{Convert|42|mi|69|ch|abbr=on}} line, which would have shortened the distance from Auckland to towns on the ECMT by {{Convert|45|mi|69|ch|abbr=on}}. In March 1937 the Kerepeehi Farmers' Union supported construction of the Paeroa to Pōkeno link.{{cite web|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HPGAZ19370331.2.23?end_date=02-04-1937&items_per_page=10&page=3&query=Burling&snippet=true&start_date=01-03-1937 |title= Railway Link Paeroa to Pokeno |publisher= Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand |date= 1937}}
Minister of Public Works, Bob Semple, turned the first sod on 27 January 1938 at Paeroa{{Cite web |date=28 January 1938 |title=NEW RAIL LINK Waikato Times |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19380128.2.117 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} and about {{Convert|32|mi|abbr=on}} of the {{Convert|42|mi|abbr=on}} line had been started{{Cite web |date=24 June 1960 |title=RAIL LINK TO PAEROA Press |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19600624.2.152 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} when work was abandoned in 1940.{{Cite web |date=28 June 1940 |title=LOWER EXPENDITURE Waikato Times |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19400628.2.99 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} Work was still making slow progress in 1950, when a paragraph in the Ministry of Works annual report said 20 private crossings had been formed and metaled and {{convert|456|ft|abbr=on}} of culverts installed.{{Cite web|url=http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1950-I.2.2.3.1|title=AtoJs Online — Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives — 1950 Session I — D-01 MINISTRY OF WORKS STATEMENT (BY THE HON. W. S. GOOSMAN, MINISTER OF WORKS)|website=atojs.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2016-05-18}} Most of the work was still in place in the 1960s,{{Cite web |date=1965 |title=1:63360 map Sheet: N53-54 Paeroa |url=http://www.mapspast.org.nz/?zoom=11.879999999999992&x=1827445&y=5865423&layerid=NZMS1%201969 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=www.mapspast.org.nz}} though very little is now visible.{{sfn|Leitch|Scott|1995|p=16}}
The Kaimai Tunnel relegated this section to ghost status; in August 1962 a deviation from Wahora to Apata passing under the Kaimai Range in a long {{convert|8.85|km|abbr=on}} tunnel was approved.{{sfn|Leitch|Scott|1995|p=16}} Work on the tunnel did not commence until 1969. With the opening of the tunnel in 1978, the Paeroa – Katikati section of the East Coast Main Trunk was closed. The line to Paeroa was then part of the Thames Branch, which closed north of Waitoa in 1991.
Originally the line was to be the first part of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway crossing the Bay of Plenty to Ōpōtiki and then inland to Gisborne via the Moutohora Branch.
Revival
During the 2014 New Zealand general election the New Zealand First political party included a proposal to build a Pōkeno-Paeroa-Te Aroha-Kaimai tunnel railway line as part of its "Railways of National Significance" transport policy.{{cite web|url=http://www.rmtunion.org.nz/events/Election2014/documents/NZFirst.pdf|title=Answers to Questions for the New Zealand Transport Worker|publisher=Rail & Maritime Transport Union|date=2014|access-date=20 January 2020}} The policy consists of completing the Pōkeno-Paeroa line, re-using part of the now-closed Thames Branch between Paeroa and Te Aroha and a new link between Te Aroha and the western portal of the Kaimai tunnel, altogether creating a more direct link along a faster route, providing more capacity on the very busy rail freight corridor between Auckland and Tauranga, together with linking the towns of Maramarua, Ngatea, Paeroa and Te Aroha as potential future satellite suburbs of Auckland on a new commuter rail service route between Auckland and Tauranga.
==See also==
References
=Citations=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |title= Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways |last1=Leitch|first1=David |last2=Scott|first2=Brian |year= 1995 |location= Wellington |isbn= 1-86934-048-5 }}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{cite web|url=https://mangatangi.org.nz/mangatangi-landmarks/16-pokeno-to-paeroa-railway|title=Pokeno to Paeroa Railway|publisher=Mangatangi Historical Group}}
- {{cite web|url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19380125.2.155.1&srpos=1&e=01-06-1920-20-07-1948--100--1-byDA-on--0PaeroaZz-Pokeno-ILLUSTRATION- |title= 1938 map of proposed line |publisher= New Zealand Herald |date= 25 January 1938}}
- {{cite web|url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=AS19380127.2.90.4&srpos=2&e=01-06-1920-20-07-1948--100--1-byDA-on--0PaeroaZz-Pokeno-ILLUSTRATION- |title= 1938, Bob Semple to turn first sod |publisher= Auckland Star |date= 27 January 1938}}
- {{cite web|url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19380128.2.121&srpos=3&e=01-06-1920-20-07-1948--100--1-byDA-on--0PaeroaZz-Pokeno-ILLUSTRATION- |title= 1938, photo of Bob Semple |publisher= New Zealand Herald |date= 28 January 1938}}
- {{cite web|url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZH19380128.2.130&srpos=4&e=01-06-1920-20-07-1948--100--1-byDA-on--0PaeroaZz-Pokeno-ILLUSTRATION- |title= 1938, presentation to Bob Semple |publisher= New Zealand Herald |date= 28 January 1938}}
- [https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/287308/rec/26 photo of river dredge and gravel pipeline to the railway]
- [http://www.mapspast.org.nz/?zoom=14&x=1785864&y=5876267&layerid=NZMS1%201959 1942 one inch map showing where the railway was under construction]
{{NZR Lines}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paeroa-Pokeno Line}}
Category:Proposed railway lines in New Zealand