Wairarapa Line

Wairarapa Line
Woodside railway station
Overview
Status	Open for passengers and freight
Owner	KiwiRail (infrastructure) New Zealand Railways Corporation (land)
Locale	Wellington Region Manawatū-Whanganui
Termini	Wellington Woodville
Stations	27 current
Service
Type	Secondary line
Route number	WRL
Operator(s)	Transdev Wellington, KiwiRail
Rolling stock	DFT class locomotives FP/FT class "Matangi" EMU SW/SE class carriage
Daily ridership	679,455 trips annually (2009)[1]
History
Opened	14 April 1874 (to Lower Hutt) 15 December 1875 (to Silverstream Bridge) 1 February 1876 (to Upper Hutt) 1 January 1878 (to Kaitoke) 12 October 1878 (to Summit) 16 October 1878 (to Featherston) 14 May 1880 (to Woodside Junction) 1 November 1880 (to Masterton) 14 June 1886 (to Mauriceville) 10 January 1887 (to Mangamahoe) 8 April 1889 (to Eketāhuna) 18 March 1896 (to Newman) 3 May 1897 (to Pahiatua) 11 December 1897 (to Woodville Junction)
Closed	28 February 1954 (Melling to Manor Park deviated) 21 November 1954 (Haywards to Silverstream deviated) 30 October 1955 (Upper Hutt to Featherston deviated)
Technical
Line length	Currently 171.5 kilometres (106.6 mi)[2] Originally 186 kilometres (116 mi)
Number of tracks	Double (Wellington–Trentham) Single (Trentham–Woodville)
Character	Urban, provincial, rural
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification	1500 V DC Overhead 14 September 1953 (Wellington to Taitā) 23 November 1953 (Petone to Lower Hutt) 24 July 1955 (Taitā to Upper Hutt)

v t e Wairarapa Line
Legend
Palmerston North - Gisborne Line State Highway 2 171.50 Woodville Woodville balloon loop Palmerston North - Gisborne Line 163.89 Ngawapurua Manawatu River bridge State Highway 2 (Ngawapurua overbridge) 159.10 Mangatainoka 154.62 Pahiatua 147.91 Konini 144.82 Mangamaire (Tataekara) 137.28 Hukanui Mangatainoka River bridge 162 m 130.18 Newman State Highway 2 (Newman overpass) 126.82 Eketahuna 150 m Wiwaka tunnel 116.57 Mangamahoe 110.56 Mauriceville 103.53 Kopuaranga Ruamahanga River (Double Bridges) 97.25 Opaki State Highway 2 (Opaki overbridge) 90.96 Masterton 89.40 Renall Street 88.09 Solway (Kurupuni, Purakau) Waingawa River bridge 85.11 Waingawa (Taratahi) 83.40 Middleton 79.33 Clareville 76.60 Carterton 73.48 Dalefield 69.61 Matarawa Waiohine River bridge Greytown Greytown Branch 65.12 Woodside (Woodside Junction) Tauherenikau River bridge 60.98 Fernside 57.15 Featherston State Highway 2 State Highway 53 Speedy's Crossing 48.41 Rimutaka Loop Pigeon Bush Cross Creek Rimutaka Incline 98 m Price's Tunnel 108 m Siberia Tunnel 584 m Summit Tunnel Summit Pakuratahi River bridge 73 m Pakuratahi Tunnel Kaitoke 152 m Mangaroa Tunnel 8.798 km Rimutaka Tunnel Maymorn Road overpass 38.75 Maymorn (Mangaroa) Temporary construction connection Mangaroa Mangaroa River bridge Maoribank Tunnel 572 m Cruickshanks Tunnel 120 m 32.40 Upper Hutt Hutt Valley Line 0.0 Wellington

Map

The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for 172 kilometres (107 mi), connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton.

The first part of the line opened in 1874 between Wellington and Lower Hutt, with the entire line to Woodville completed in 1897. It was the only New Zealand Government Railways route out of Wellington until 1908, when the government bought out the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company who owned and operated the present North Island Main Trunk section between Wellington and Palmerston North. The line originally included the famous Rimutaka Incline, which used the Fell mountain railway system to cross the Rimutaka Range between Upper Hutt and Featherston. In the mid-1950s, the line between Petone and Featherston was substantially realigned, with the line diverted to the east of the Hutt River between Petone and Haywards to serve new housing developments in Lower Hutt, and the construction of the Rimutaka Tunnel to replace the Rimutaka Incline. Part of the former route west of the Hutt River has been retained as the Melling Branch.

The southern portion of the line between Wellington and Upper Hutt is electrified and is also known as the Hutt Valley Line. Transdev on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council runs suburban services along the Hutt Valley section, as well as the Wairarapa Connection service between Wellington and Masterton. KiwiRail runs regular freight services along the line between Wellington to Masterton and between Pahiatua and Woodville. No regular services currently run along the Masterton to Pahiatua section, and this section is currently under review as part of KiwiRail's turnaround plan.

The Labour Party promised during the 2017 election campaign to upgrade the track to improve operation of the Wairarapa Connection, and on 9 October 2018 the Minister of Transport Phil Twyford announced that the proposed $196 million for the region included $96 million for the Wairarapa Line; $50 million in the Wairarapa and $46.2 million south of the Rimutaka Tunnel including double-tracking the Trentham to Upper Hutt section. Work is to start in April 2019.^[3] The double-tracking was completed in November 2021.^[4] Other "infrastructure renewals" on the line include three bridges with timber elements and track renewal (including in the Rimutaka Tunnel), replacement of signals between Masterton and Featherston and upgrades to Upper Hutt.^[5] Passing loops at Carterton and Woodside had previously been removed, leaving Featherston with the only loop between Upper Hutt and Masterton; the Carterton loop may need reinstating at some time for more frequent trains.^[6] The New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced on 30 January 2020 included passing loops at Carterton, Featherston and Maymorn and a second platform at Featherston.^[7] It is planned to have up to 7 peak services from Masterton at 15-minute intervals.^[5]