[2] The railway through Otiria, linking Onerahi (46 mi 45 ch (74.9 km) away), Whangārei and Kawakawa, opened on 13 April 1911, when the final Towai-Kawakawa section was added.

In 1913 the porter asked to rent a platelayer's cottage and £21,050 was spent to build the station, stationmaster's house (£450), siding with points and crossings (£417), and signals (£150).

[15] The Auckland-Opua, Northland Express cut almost 2 hours off the journey from Whangārei[10] and ran until 12 November 1956, when it was replaced by Auckland-Ōkaihau 88 seater railcars.

[22] A business case was published in 2019[20] and in January 2020 the Government announced the reopening and building of a container terminal as part of a $109.7m investment in Northland rail,[23] but, in June 2024, after election of a new government, KiwiRail announced that concrete sleepers already at the trackside (on which $33.5m had already been spent)[24] would remain in place, but reopening beyond the Fonterra dairy factory at Kauri would depend on building the Marsden Point branch, after a further report in 2025.

[25] Pou Herenga Tai – Twin Coast Cycle Trail fully opened at the end of 2016,[26][27] using the trackbeds of the Ōkaihau and Opua branches,[28] linked by a gravel cycleway alongside the road through Otiria.