The 1855 earthquake raised dry land along the side of Wellington Harbour from the north end of Thorndon to Petone. Railway lines were laid there in the 1870s and on the beach in front of Thorndon Quay towards Wellington as far as Pipitea Point which was as close as the lines could get to the city. Pipitea Point was the first Wellington railway station. Wellington's Hutt Line opened in 1874. The Manawatu station or Thorndon railway station was opened nearby just to the north of Pipitea Point but not until the spring of 1885.