Upper Hutt Railway Station

Upper Hutt Metlink suburban rail
Station statistics
Address	Station Crescent, Upper Hutt
Coordinates	41°7′34.11″S 175°4′13.77″E
Lines	Wairarapa Line
Connections	Bus services
Platforms	Single, Island with dock (southern end)
Tracks	Main lines: 1 Crossing loops: 1 Sidings: 1 (Dock Platform) Row sidings: 5 (EMU storage in fenced area) Private sidings: 1 (to Parapine)
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Baggage check	No
Other information
Opened	1876-02-01
Rebuilt	1955
Electrified	1955-07-24
Owned by	Greater Wellington Regional Council
Fare zone	7
Services
ONTRACK     Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station Terminus Hutt Valley Line Wallaceville toward Wellington Maymorn toward Masterton Wairarapa Connection Waterloo Interchange (Hutt Central) toward Wellington

Upper Hutt railway station is a two-platform urban railway station serving the city of Upper Hutt in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island. The station lies on the Wairarapa Line, and is on Station Crescent, off Fergusson Drive. This station is served by the Wairarapa Connection (as a through station) and Tranz Metro electric multiple units (as a terminus station) trains.

The station has a ticket office, and was staffed full-time until early 2007 because of its railway signalling responsibilities for the Trentham-Upper Hutt-Featherston section. It is within sight of the Upper Hutt Police Station and Upper Hutt City Council chambers, and next to a shopping precinct. A big-format retail development opened in 2007 to the north of the station between Fergusson Drive and Park Street.

History

Construction of the Wairarapa Line to Upper Hutt was covered by the River Contract, which was let to contractor Charles McKirdy. The rails reached Upper Hutt in January 1876. Severe flooding at the end of January caused the road between Upper Hutt and Taita to become blocked and damaged, and so to minimise the impact caused by delays to road traffic, the Upper Hutt station was opened on 1 February, despite the concerns of the Public Works Department that the move was premature. The station was not ready for business, as the station and ancillary buildings had not been completed. However, the line and station were handed over to the Provincial Council to run while construction of the line beyond Upper Hutt commenced.

With the line open as far as Upper Hutt, traffic began to increase. Goods traffic initially consisted mostly of timber, followed closely by wool. Passenger services consisted of three weekday return services to Wellington. One effect of the introduction of services between Wellington and Upper Hutt was the reduction in road coach services, which, from the north, terminated at Upper Hutt. Goods wagons, however, continued on to Wellington. Still, railway traffic benefited by a 50% increase due to the establishment of the railhead at Upper Hutt.

The year the station opened, it gained a fourth-class station building, goods shed, coal store, two-road engine shed and two water tanks for the sum of £2,040. In 1955, as part of the station upgrading programme for the imminent arrival of electric multiple unit working of the Hutt Valley Line, a new station building was erected at Upper Hutt.

While trains only operated as far north as Upper Hutt, they were not protected by fixed signals. It was felt that as services were few, slow, and operated only in daylight hours, signals were not necessary. Upper Hutt was one of the first stations on the Wairarapa Line to receive signals, with initial instructions requiring south-bound trains to wait in the siding or loop, and north-bound trains to take the main line. These signals were first listed in the working timetables of 1887. By 1921, increased traffic was causing operational issues, and it was decided to install new automatic signalling which had been recently developed in the United States. Work began in 1921, and by early 1923 was operating between Wellington and Upper Hutt. In 1955, with the opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel and deviation, a Centralised Traffic Control system was installed at Upper Hutt station to control main line points and signals between Trentham and Featherston. The signals used were of the colour light variety. Train control was centralised in Wellington in early 2007.

All locomotive hauled passenger trains between Wellington and Upper Hutt were replaced with electric multiple units from 24 July 1955.

Future

The 2011 – 2012 Regional Rail Plan (RRP) proposes duplicating the track between Trentham and Upper Hutt in 2012. This will increase the frequency of services from Upper Hutt to Wellington.

Services

The following Metlink bus routes serve Upper Hutt station:

• 91: Airport Flyer
• 92: Porirua
• 110: Petone
• 111: Totara Park
• 112: Te Marua
• 114: Poets Block
• 115: Pinehaven

Gallery

• 

  Upper Hutt railway station car park.

• 

  Looking south from Upper Hutt station platform. The dock is to the right, the main line to the left of the platform, and the crossing loop at far left. To the left of the crossing loop is the southern entrance to the EMU storage area.

• 

  Upper Hutt railway station dock platform terminus (at buffer) in front of the railway station building. The blue boxes on the platform are cycle storage lockers.

• 

  EMU storage area and row sidings at Upper Hutt railway station in a fenced part of the station yard. In the foreground are the crossing loop (left), and main line (right).

• 

  Looking north along the Upper Hutt railway station platform. To the left is the dock and to the right are the main line and crossing loop. Behind the fence (right) is the EMU storage area. In the background is the station building (centre), and neighbouring big-format retailers (right).

• 

  Neighbouring big-format retailers at Upper Hutt railway station, from foreground to background: Briscoes, Wellington Beds, Big Save Furniture, Mitre 10 Mega

• 

  Bus terminal

References

• Cameron, Walter Norman (1976). A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas. Wellington: New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. ISBN 0-908573-00-6. 
• Churchman, Geoffrey B.; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History (2nd edition ed.). Wellington: Transpress New Zealand. ISBN 0-908876-20-3. 

External links

• Passenger service timetables from Metlink and Tranz Metro.