Kiokio Line open, station closed 8.02 km (4.98 mi)
1955 one inch to one mile map (Source- Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and licensed by LINZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence)Te Kawa station site in 2023
The railway crossed 5,000 acres (2,000 ha)[4] (or 8,000) Te Kawa Swamp[5] to the north of the station on a 60 chains (4,000 ft; 1,200 m) embankment. Culverts were included to maintain the effectiveness of eel weirs in the swamp[6] and provide for the flow of water.[7] A post office was open by 1909 and a drainage board set up,[8] which was extended in 1915, by which time the station was handling traffic for Waikeria Prison.[9]
In 1908 the station was being considered as a junction for a line to Kawhia and Raglan[10] and by 1920 as a junction on a railway from Kawhia to Rotorua.[11] On 14 September 1913 the name of the station was changed from Kawa to Te Kawa. In 1917 a telephone was reported as connected,[12] though another report put the date as 1929.[13] By 1980 there was a passing loop for 123 wagons.[12]
The line to the south of Te Kawa falls on a 1 in 183 gradient.[14] There was a private siding for grain at the station in the 1970s and 80s.[15]
