[2][3] The Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "long snare for catching parakeets" for Koputaroa.

[5] Kereru was opened as a flag station by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company on Monday 2 August 1886, when trains started to run between Longburn and Ōtaki,[7] though a special train had run from Longburn to Ohau in April 1886.

[9] In 1906 the cattle yards were rebuilt and a new goods shed and sheep stage added.

By 1981 Koputaroa had no outward traffic and the only inward freight was fertiliser to a bulk store; in 1905 Manawatu Gorge Lime Co Ltd had applied for a private siding.

Incorrectly set points at the passing loop were thought to have caused the Incident.