[10][11] Fonterra transports milk collected from farms by rail from southern Hawke's Bay to Longburn[12] and runs two trains a day to Whareroa.

[2] The station reopened with conversion of the wooden tramway to a railway on 20 October 1876,[14] though Longburn wasn't shown in the timetable when services through to Whanganui began in 1878.

The line through Longburn is now part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, completed in 1909.

[16] Special trains ran from Whanganui and Wellington to the WMR's last spike ceremony at Otaihanga on 3 November 1886.

[18] The first through train from Wellington to Palmerston North ran on 30 November 1886,[19] but the regular timetable only provided for connections at Longburn.

[21] WMR wrote in September 1890, "Traffic requires that we should run daily instead of five days a week, and would be obliged if you would arrange to connect with our trains morning and evenings as usual at Longburn, commencing on and after Thursday, 9th instant."

By 1896 there was a station building, platform, cart approach, loading bank, urinals and a loop for 23 wagons.

By 1892 there was a goods shed, which in 1911 was noted as 40 ft x 30 ft.[16] £1,336 was allocated for a new joint NZR/WMR station, with verandah,[16] built on the Awapuni side of the junction,[22] which opened on 23 October 1905.

[16] Private sidings existed from 1884, belonging at various times to Manawatu Cheese & Butter Co, Beale & Co's slaughter house, Longburn Freezing, Kiwi Bacon, Karanga Meat, National Mortgage & Agency, Co-operative Wholesale Society, Kairanga Dairy, Rongotea Dairy and Sanitarium.

[16] About 2.5 km (1.6 mi) south of Longburn the NIMT crosses the Manawatū River on a 366 m (1,201 ft) long bridge.