[6] The Governor General went over the line on 27 March 1878,[7] but opening was postponed, due to subsidence at Rukuhia,[8] until 4 June 1878.

[11] On Thursday 1 July 1880 the line was extended to Te Awamutu and £397 was spent on moving the engine shed and driver's cottage there.

By 1884 Ōhaupō had a 4th class station, passenger platform, cart approach to platform, 30 ft (9.1 m) by 60 ft (18 m) goods shed, loading bank, cattle yards, stationmaster's house, urinals and a passing loop for 37 wagons.

[6] Traffic grew rapidly for the first two decades of the twentieth century, but then declined as buses and car increased (see graph and table below).

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of a breeze at night" for Ōhaupō.