Raahui Pookeka-Huntly Railway Station (formerly Huntly Railway Station) is on the North Island Main Trunk line and the Awaroa Branch in the town of Huntly in the Waikato District of New Zealand, 65 mi (105 km) south of Auckland.
[3] The station was named Raahui Pookeka-Huntly for its reopening for the new Te Huia train on 6 April 2021.
[9] A 4th class stationmaster's house was built in 1878, cattle pens were added in 1881 and by 1884 Huntly had a 4th class station, platform, cart approach, loading bank, cattle yards, water crane, fixed signals, stationmaster's house, urinals and passing loop for 41 wagons.
Traffic grew steadily (see graph and table below) so, in March 1920, the Town Board set out the need for a larger station.
In 1919 the chief traffic manager reported that there was insufficient room and by 1924 the growth of coal mining had increased business a further 25%.
[87] In 1993 Huntly Lions Club repainted the station[13] and the 1939 footbridge at the north end of the platform was moved to Helensville, though it couldn't be used, as too few parts survived for it to be safe.
[90] In 2008 the 1939 building was moved as part of plans to shift Waikato Coalfields Museum to Lake Puketirini (former Weavers opencast coal mine),[91] the most vandalised park in the district.
[citation needed] $960,000 was to be spent to renovate the station for the new Te Huia service, originally promised for 2019,[97] then delayed to March 2020,[98] then 3 August 2020[99][100] and, finally, Tuesday 6 April 2021.
[101] The shelter and platform needed upgrading plus "park-and-ride" facilities and a pedestrian overbridge to the town centre.