Hamilton railway station (New Zealand) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hamilton
This picture from 1980 shows the Hamilton station (built 1975) in the background. The old Frankton Junction station (built 1909) is being taken down in the front. You can see where the two main train lines, ECMT and NIMT, split.
Location	Fraser Street, Hamilton 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
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)
Services
Preceding station   KiwiRail   Following station Rotokauri toward Papakura Te Huia Terminus The Great Journeys of New Zealand Papakura toward Auckland Strand Northern Explorer Otorohanga toward Wellington

The Hamilton railway station is a train station in Hamilton, a city in the Waikato region of New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Frankton. Because of this, the station was known as Frankton Junction for most of its history.

This station is important because it sits where two major train lines meet: the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and the East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT). Today, only the NIMT line carries passengers. You can catch the Northern Explorer train here, which travels between Auckland and Wellington. There's also the regional Te Huia service. This train goes to Auckland twice a day in the morning and returns in the evening. It stops at Rotokauri Transport Hub and Huntly railway station.

History of Hamilton's Train Station

Early Days: Frankton Junction

The first Frankton Junction station had an island platform. This is a platform with tracks on both sides. It was just north of where the ECMT and NIMT lines joined. The station also had two signal boxes to control the trains. A place for fixing and storing locomotives (train engines) was also nearby.

In 1909, a bigger station was built. This was needed because more trains were running on the new line to Wellington. The first direct trains from Auckland to Wellington started on February 14, 1909. These long journeys took over 19 hours and always stopped at Frankton.

Changes Over Time

Steam trains stopped being used in the North Island in 1968. Because of this, the old locomotive depot closed. A brand new station opened in 1975 on the same spot. This new station had a side platform for each train line. At this time, the station was renamed to its current name, Hamilton railway station.

An old signal box from Frankton South End was moved. It now sits at the Hamilton Miniature Engineers' site in Minogue Park. This is across from the new Te Rapa train depot.

A Busy Hub for Hamilton

The station played a big role in Hamilton's growth. Many important trains used to stop here. These included famous services like The Overlander, Blue Streak, Northerner, and Silver Star. Other trains like the Waikato Connection, Rotorua Express, and Thames Express also served the station.

The station was very busy in the past. For example, in just three months in 1936, the station earned a lot of money. This included £7,065 from selling 27,025 train tickets. They also earned £1,482 from parcels and £24,143 from goods. This included transporting over 43,000 sheep and almost 6,000 cattle! This amount would be like $15 million a year today.

Train traffic grew steadily for many years. This shows how important the station was for people and goods moving around New Zealand.

tickets sales 1882–1950 – This chart shows how many tickets were sold at Frankton Junction station between 1882 and 1950.

Train Services Today

Around 2008, the long roof over platform 1 (for the NIMT line) was made shorter. The ECMT line no longer carries regular passenger trains. Its platform (platform 2) is only used sometimes for special trips or excursion trains.

Today, passenger services are mostly limited to the Northern Explorer. This train replaced The Overlander in 2012. In the past, there were other services like the Kaimai Express and Geyserland Express. These trains went to Tauranga and Rotorua but were stopped in 2002. The overnight Northerner train also stopped running in 2004.

A local train service called the Waikato Connection ran to Auckland in 2000 and 2001. A similar service, now called Te Huia, started in early 2021. It uses refurbished train carriages and initially travels to Papakura railway station.

Northern Explorer at Hamilton in 2018, getting ready to head south.

Images for kids

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  The Hamilton station seen from Massey Hall bridge. The NIMT platform is on the right, and the ECMT platform is on the left. This photo from 2006 shows the station still had its long roof over the platforms.

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  Frankton Junction station around 1915, showing how it looked in its early days.

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  AARD Hudson buses at Frankton Junction in the early 1920s. They are loaded with mailbags, showing how buses connected with the station back then.

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  The Northern Explorer train at Hamilton in 2012, ready to leave for Auckland. Most of the platform roof was removed around 2008.

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  A plaque next to the main entrance of the station. It shows that the station was opened by Ron Bailey on August 6, 1975.

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  A mural of Claudelands Bridge on the ECML platform, adding art to the station.

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  A sign showing how to get to the city centre. It's a 25-minute walk, 7 minutes on the Western Rail Trail (for bikes), or a 5-minute walk to catch a bus.