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Mercer railway station
Mercer Railway station.jpg
1910 Mercer station viewed from east with Waikato River in middle distance.
Price, William Archer, 1866–1948 Collection of post card negatives. Ref: 1/2-001041-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington
Location Mercer
New Zealand
Coordinates 37°16′39″S 175°02′52″E / 37.27750°S 175.04778°E / -37.27750; 175.04778
Owned by KiwiRail Network
Line(s) North Island Main Trunk
Tracks double track from 11 November 1951
History
Opened 20 May 1875
Closed 1986

Mercer railway station in Mercer, New Zealand, is 72 km from Auckland and 609 km from Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk line. It opened on 20 May 1875 and was closed to passengers about 1970 and to goods in the 1990s. It burnt down in 1879 and also in 1900. Until 1958 it was the first refreshment stop south of Auckland.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Pokeno
Line open, station closed
  North Island Main Trunk
New Zealand Railways Department
  Amokura
Line open, station closed

History

The line was extended to Mercer on 20 May 1875, though the pioneer British contractors, John Brogden & Sons, ran an excursion train the day before. The New Zealand Herald said, "This will be a busy station for some time to come, it being the terminus." It described the route as crossing Mangatawhiri swamp, then running beside the South Road, with a short branch line being constructed to connect with the Waikato Steam Navigation Company's boats. It said the station and other buildings were still being built. 'Some time to come' ended just over 2 years later, when the line was extended to Ngāruawāhia on 13 August 1877. The refreshment room was built in 1876/77 for £245 and extended in 1878/79 for £180.

The service began with two trains per day each way between Auckland and Mercer taking 2hrs 50mins. The station was unfinished when the railway opened.

An 1880 advert for reopening of the refreshment rooms said trains waited 20 minutes.

In 1902 the newly rebuilt station was described as, "a long wood and iron building, which contains a large refreshment room and bar, ladies' room, public room, booking office, stationmaster's room, and post and telegraph department. There is also a large engine shed, besides a pump house and coalshed, and there are eight cottages in the immediate vicinity", with 9 staff – stationmaster, porter, cadet, 2 engine drivers, 2 firemen, and 2 greasers.

Until New Zealand Railways took over in 1917, the refreshment rooms were managed by the Mercer Railway Hotel, opposite the station. The hotel was rebuilt in 1898, with 15 bedrooms, 3 sitting rooms and a 50-seat dining room. The refreshment rooms gained importance when dining cars on main trunk expresses were removed as a wartime measure.

The refreshment rooms became the target of poet A.R.D Fairburn's witty tongue with this very famous quip.

"The thought occurs to those who are entrained: The squalid tea of Mercer is not strained."

Chart of Mercer railway station passengers 1881-1950
tickets sales 1881–1950 – derived from annual returns to Parliament of "Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended"

Traffic grew to a peak in World War 2, as shown in the graph and table below.

year tickets season tickets staff ref.
1881 1,763 3
1882 4,824 1
1883 4,330 3
1884 5,726 4
1885 5,536 2 5
1886 4,614 5 4
1887 4,675 1 2
1888 7,045 5 2
1889 8,127 3 3
1890
1891 7,686 3 3
1892 7,969 3 3
1893 7,519 5 3
1894 7,869 5 4
1895 7,951 7 4
1896 7,953 4 4
1897 8,652 4 5
1898 8,446 6 5
1899 9,605 3 5
1900 10,482 3 5
1901
1902 15,449 6
1903 16,365 1 8
1904 15,183 1 9
1905 14,912 14 9
1906 12,529 21 11
1907 11,619 29 10
1908 14,898 4 12
1909 13,977 8 12
1910 12,768 9 12
1911 11,055 20 11
1912 11,295 13 17
1913 14,199 52 17
1914 15,337 156
1915 15,898 144
1916 18,400 135
1917 20,601 113
1918 20,560 154
1919 20,680 111
1920 19,363 142
1921 21,203 125
1922 16,450 106
1923 14,535 101
1924 15,700 102
1925 17,615 107
1926 14,711 107
1927 14,696 68
1928 11,536 84
1929 10,218 133
1930 9,110 133
1931 11,892 94
1932 11,587 95
1933 14,141 99
1934 16,227 131
1935 18,030 127
1936 18,030 124
1937 19,560 111
1938 19,365 138
1939 19,802 175
1940 19,718 114
1941 19,667 128
1942 22,580 89
1943 25,422 92
1944 30,297 166
1945 31,073 145
1946 25,651 119
1947 21,410 185
1948 15,495 478
1949 14,838 337
1950 16,452 240

Future services

In 2011 a feasibility report on reinstating passenger services said a station with a platform 155m long and 750mm high for 6-car trains would cost $4m. The proposal was shelved. It is believed by some that the figure is overly inflated to kill off the proposal.

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