Waterloo railway station, Lower Hutt

Not to be confused with London Waterloo station.

Waterloo Interchange (Hutt Central)
Metlink suburban rail
General information
Location	Cambridge Terrace, Lower Hutt
Coordinates	41°12′49.77″S 174°55′15.95″E
Owned by	Greater Wellington Regional Council
Line(s)	Wairarapa Line
Platforms	Dual, side
Tracks	Main line (2)
Connections	Bus services
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Other information
Station code	WATE
Fare zone	4
History
Opened	26 May 1927
Rebuilt	26 November 1988
Electrified	12 September 1953
Previous names	Waterloo
Services
ONTRACK   Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station Template:Tranz Metro stations toward Template:Tranz Metro stations Template:Tranz Metro lines Template:Tranz Metro stations toward Template:Tranz Metro stations Template:Tranz Metro stations toward Template:Tranz Metro stations Template:Tranz Metro lines Template:Tranz Metro stations toward Template:Tranz Metro stations

Waterloo Interchange railway station is a two-platform suburban railway station in Waterloo, a suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island. It stands on the Wairarapa Line (formerly the Hutt Valley Branch), between Pohutukawa Street and Cambridge Terrace. (Cambridge Terrace joins the Eastern Hutt Road, the main thoroughfare along the eastern side of the upper part of the Hutt Valley.) Waterloo operates as an important transit hub for Wainuiomata, as buses from Wainuiomata connect with the Hutt Valley system through this station. The interchange is served by Wairarapa Connection and Hutt Valley Line trains.

The station is over the road from an ambulance station and from a shopping precinct, and stands next to a bus depot. It is a few minutes' walk from a now closed fire station. Due to its status as an interchange, it serves as a point of convergence for several bus routes.

History

Two major reasons were the impetus for the construction of the Hutt Valley Branch between Petone and Waterloo: first, the Petone Workshops had reached the end of their useful life; second, with increasing traffic demands on the line between Petone and Haywards and the lack of room to double-track the line on its existing route meant a new main line had to be built. The line was surveyed between 1924 and 1925, with a short industrial branch leaving the Hutt Valley Branch at Woburn to serve the new Hutt Workshops. On 26 May 1927 the rails reached Waterloo, which was then in the middle of open fields. This station was the terminus of the Hutt Valley Branch line until an extension north to Naenae was opened in 1946. The station was opened with automatic, three-aspect colour light signals which had been standard since 1924.

It was always intended that Waterloo would one day serve a major population centre which, in the years following World War II and the population boom that ensued, was proved correct. Significant urban development of the Hutt Valley in the 1940s led to the decision in February 1946 to commence electrification in 1949 and to operate electric train between Waterloo and Wellington from August 1953. Until the connection of the Hutt Valley Branch to the Wairarapa Line and its opening as the new main line on 1 March 1954, Waterloo served only suburban passenger services, with Upper Hutt and Wairarapa trains continuing to use the old line between Haywards and Petone on the western side of the Hutt Valley.

In 1986, as a result of the Hutt Valley Transport Study, Waterloo was designated an interchange for bus and rail services in preference to Woburn, which had previously had this role. It was felt that Waterloo was a more logical choice as it was closer to centres of residential and commercial interest, had sufficient room for bus platforms to be installed, and was not burdened with other operational requirements such as Woburn being the junction with the Gracefield Branch, with its loops and sidings. The new interchange facility at Waterloo was opened on 26 November 1988, and fully integrated with all the new public transport routes and timetables by the following March.

Services

The following Metlink bus routes pass through or terminate at Waterloo:

Previous Stop	Metlink Bus Services	Next Stop
Knights Road towards Stokes Valley	121 Valley Heights	Waterloo Road towards Gracefield
Waterloo Road towards Naenae	130 Naenae	Knights Road towards Petone
Oxford Terrace towards Kelson	150 Western Hills	Knights Road towards Petone
Waterloo Road towards Queensgate	160 Wainuiomata North	Guthrie Street towards Wainuiomata
Waterloo Road towards Queensgate	170 Wainuiomata South	Guthrie Street towards Wainuiomata

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. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, |chapterurl=, |origdate=, and |coauthors= (help)
• Bromby, Robin (2003). Rails That Built A Nation: An Encyclopedia of New Zealand Railways. Wellington: Grantham House Publishing. ISBN 1-86934-080-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, |chapterurl=, |origdate=, and |coauthors= (help)
• Churchman, Geoffrey B. (2001) [1990]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History (2nd edition ed.). Wellington: Transpress New Zealand. ISBN 0-908876-20-3. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |origmonth=, |month=, |chapterurl=, and |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Passenger service timetables from Metlink and Tranz Metro.