Hutt Valley Line

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Hutt Valley Line
Overview
Span:	Between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Total Stops:	eighteen
Major Stops:	Wellington, Upper Hutt

The Hutt Valley Line, incorporating the former Hutt Valley Branch, is a section of the Wairarapa Line railway from Wellington to the Wairarapa by way of the Hutt Valley in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It can be considered to end in two locations: the northern terminus of the Wellington Region's electrified commuter service Tranz Metro in Upper Hutt,^[1] or beyond at the Rimutaka Tunnel through the Rimutaka Range to the Wairarapa region.

Contents 1 Construction 2 Deviation and electrification 3 Operation 3.1 Passenger services 3.2 Freight services 4 Stations listed from Wellington to Upper Hutt 5 See Also 6 References

[edit] Construction

The Hutt valley line was the first railway out of Wellington, preceding the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company's west coast route that was later acquired by the New Zealand Railways Department and incorporated into the North Island Main Trunk. The first proposal for a railway line from Wellington to the Rimutakas was put to the Wellington provincial government by Robert Stokes in 1858, and five years later, the government gave support to the idea. In 1866, the government's investigating committee approved the line and the Wellington, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa Railway Ordinance was passed on 2 July 1866. It authorised a line to be built to either standard gauge of 4'8.5", or a narrow gauge of 3'6", but sufficient funds could not be raised in England and the railway proposal was temporarily abandoned.^[2]

In 1870, Premier Julius Vogel included a railway from Wellington to the Wairarapa in his "Great Public Works" policy, and while in London to raise funds for a number of projects in this policy, he was approached by contractors Brogden & Sons. They received a contract to survey and construct the first portion of the line, from Wellington to Lower Hutt, and construction began on 20 August 1872, with the first sod turned at Pipitea in Wellington city. The railway took longer to construct due to the difficulties associated with stabilising the shoreline of Wellington Harbour. In July 1873, the railway reached Kaiwharawhara, followed by Ngaraunga in early 1874 and Lower Hutt on 14 April 1874. Steam locomotives had now arrived to work the line and a service began, with four trains daily each way (three on Sundays).^[3]

Construction of the next section to Upper Hutt along the western bank of the Hutt River proceeded swiftly. On 11 May 1874, a contract was let to Charles McKirdy^[4], and the line was opened to Silverstream in December 1875; this included a 272 metre long bridge across the Hutt River to the eastern bank just before Silverstream, and in other locations, thousands of bags of cement had to be used to stabilise the railway's route alongside the river. Not long after the opening of the Silverstream section, the line was opened through to Upper Hutt on 1 February 1876.^[5] It was almost two years until the next section was opened; Kaitoke was reached on 1 January 1878, followed by the first section into the Wairarapa on 12 August 1878 to Featherston.^[6] This section scaled the Rimutaka ranges via the Rimutaka Incline.

In the same year, the Pipitea terminal in Wellington was destroyed by fire on 16 January. A permanent replacement on Featherston Street opened on 1 November 1880; it was subsequently moved to a site near the intersection of Thorndon and Lambton Quays in 1885 and became known as Lambton Station. It was replaced by the present day Wellington Railway Station on Bunny Street in 1937. Other work around Wellington focused on straightening the line's route alongside the Harbour; this was approved in 1903, began in 1904, and by 1911, the entire line between Wellington and Lower Hutt was duplicated and straighter.^[7]

[edit] Deviation and electrification

The original route was built along the western bank of the Hutt River to provide the most direct route from Wellington to the Wairarapa. In 1925, the passage of the Hutt Valley Lands Settlement Act contained a provision for a branch line railway from Petone to Waterloo.^[8] Its construction was easy, though it included a 233 metre long bridge over the Hutt River, and it opened on 26 May 1927. It was soon followed by the Gracefield Branch to the Railway Department's new Hutt Workshops on 1 April 1929.^[9]

After World War II, the Hutt Valley experienced a significant growth in population and extension of the Hutt Valley Branch to Taita was approved. It had been built double-tracked to Waterloo, but the next section to Naenae was single track, opening on 7 January 1946. On 14 April 1947, it was opened through to Taita, with the section from Waterloo to Naenae double tracked. The final section from Naenae to Taita was duplicated on 22 February 1953. A proposal to further extend the Taita line to link up with the original Hutt Valley main line had been approved in February 1946, and in the early 1950s, this was carried out. On 28 February 1954, the section of the old main line between Melling and Haywards (now Manor Park) was closed, leaving the Lower Hutt to Melling section as the Melling Branch, and on 1 March 1954, the Taita to Haywards section began operating and the Hutt Valley Branch was incorporated into the Hutt Valley main line.^[10]

At this time, the railway was also electrified. Electrification had been approved in response to post-WWII coal shortages, with the first section of electrification opened on 14 September [1953]] from Wellington to Taita. The old bridge over the Hutt River to Silverstream was found unsuitable for electrification and a deviation was built to the north with a new bridge. There were proposals to build a line directly from Taita to Silverstream through the Taita Gorge, eliminating the route across the river to Haywards and then back over it to Silverstream, but this was found unsuitable due to the nature of the soil through the gorge.^[11] A portion of the line renderred unnecessary by the new route into Silverstream has been preserved by the Silver Stream Railway.

On 19 July 1954, the railway was duplicated to a point north of Haywards, and later that year, a single track on the new Silverstream deviation was brought into use on 21 November; full duplication from Haywards was not opened until it was completed to Trentham on 26 June 1955. Less than a month later, on 24 July, the electrification was completed all the way to Upper Hutt and diesel-hauled passenger services north of Taita ceased.^[12]

Later in 1955, the Rimutaka Incline was replaced by the Rimutaka Tunnel, allowing much quicker travel from the Hutt Valley to the Wairarapa. This involved re-routing the Hutt line north of Upper Hutt; the Kaitoke route to Summit in the Rimutaka Range at the western end of the Incline was closed and replaced by a line through Maymorn to the western portal of the Tunnel.

[edit] Operation

[edit] Passenger services

The original route was operated by members of the C, D, and L class steam locomotives in the 1870s and 1880s.^[13] In 1905, one member of the D class, D 137, was utilised in trials on the Hutt Valley Line of a "railcar" service between Lower and Upper Hutt^[14] based on a concept the Railways Department's General Manager had witnessed in the eastern United States. This involved D 137 hauling a carriage that seated 24 first class passengers, 48 second class passengers, and had a guard's compartment. However, it was not economic and grossly over-powered, and accordingly, it was soon taken out of service and the Railways Department pursued research into genuine railcars, culminating in various classes covered by the general RM class designation.^[15]

On 11 December 1897, the full Wairarapa Line was opened to a junction with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line in Woodville, allowing the commencement of the Napier Express directly from Wellington through the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa to Napier in the Hawkes Bay. This was the premier service on the Hutt Valley Line until early 1909, when it was re-routed via the west coast route that the Railways Department had recently been acquired from the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company.^[16] Its replacement was the Wairarapa Mail, an express train that ran the Napier Express's former Wellington to Woodville leg. Through the Hutt Valley, the express was typically hauled by W^W class tank locomotives.^[17] In 1936, the Wairarapa railcars were introduced to the Wairarapa runs, decreasing the frequency of the express and ultimately leading to its cancellation in 1948. No named provincial express has operated on the Hutt Valley Line since this time.^[18]

Suburban services in the 20th century prior to electrification were typically hauled by tank locomotives of the W^AB and W^W classes. Prior to full electrification, services beyond Taita were operated by DE class diesels. Full electrification saw duties shared between DM class multiple units and carriage trains hauled by ED and EW class electric locomotives, the latter class ordered for the Wellington electrified network when the Hutt Valley electrification project was approved. The EDs were withdrawn by 1980 and EWs by 1983, and in the early eighties, the EM multiple units were introduced, taking over almost all services.^[19] Today, the DM class units are used only at peak times and commuter trains run frequently throughout each day by Tranz Metro, with stops at eighteen stations.^[20] This is augmented by Tranz Metro's commuter service from Masterton in the Wairarapa, the Wairarapa Connection. It operates multiple times daily and is hauled by diesel locomotives, mainly DC class locomotives.

[edit] Freight services

From December 1897 until the acquisition of the WMR in December 1908, the Hutt Valley Line was part of the Railways Department's primary route out of Wellington. Once the west coast route of the North Island Main Trunk Railway was available, all freight that could be diverted was sent via that line due to the costs and inefficiency of sending it over the Rimutaka Incline. Accordingly, the status of the Hutt Valley Line as a freight route markedly declined, though it became more desirable as a secondary route to the Main Trunk once the Incline was replaced by the Rimutaka Tunnel. Today, multiple freight trains operated by Toll Rail operate daily through the Hutt Valley between Wellington, Masterton, and Napier. Non-commercial services are also operated regularly to transfer equipment to and from the Hutt Workshops. Since the demise of the ED and EW class, all freight trains have been operated by diesel locomotives.^[21]

[edit] Stations listed from Wellington to Upper Hutt

• Wellington Station
  
• Ngauranga Station
  
• Petone Station
  
• Ava Station
  
• Woburn Station
  
• Waterloo Station
  
• Epuni Station
  
• Naenae Station
  
• Wingate Station
  
• Mana Station
  
• Taita Station
  
• Pomare Station
  
• Manor Park Station
  
• Silverstream Station
  
• Heretaunga Station
  
• Trentham Station
  
• Wallaceville Station
  
• Upper Hutt Station
  

[edit] See Also

• List of Wellington railway stations
• Wairarapa Line

[edit] References

New Zealand Railway Lines

v • d • e Main lines v • d • e North Island: East Coast Main Trunk • North Island Main Trunk (inc. Paraparaumu Line) v • d • e South Island: Main North Line and Main South Line, known together as the South Island Main Trunk v • d • e Secondary lines v • d • e North Island: Marton - New Plymouth Line • North Auckland Line • Palmerston North - Gisborne Line • Stratford - Okahukura Line • Wairarapa Line (inc. Hutt Valley Line) v • d • e South Island: Midland Line • Nelson Section • Otago Central Railway • Stillwater - Westport Line • Waimea Plains Railway v • d • e Branch lines v • d • e Upper North Island Cambridge • Dargaville • Donnelly's Crossing • Glen Afton • Kinleith • Kumeu-Riverhead • Mount Maunganui • Murupara • Newmarket • Okaihau • Onehunga • Onerahi • Opua • Rotorua • Taneatua • Thames • Waiuku and Mission Bush v • d • e Lower North Island Ahuriri • Castlecliff and Wanganui • Foxton • Greytown • Johnsonville • Melling • Mount Egmont • Moutohora • Ngatapa • Opunake • Raetihi • Taonui • Te Aro • Waitara v • d • e Upper South Island Blackball and Roa • Cape Foulwind • Conns Creek • Eyreton • Fairlie • Little River • Lyttelton • Methven • Mount Somers • Oxford • Rapahoe • Rewanui • Hokitika/Ross • Seddonville • Southbridge • Waiau • Waimate • Whitecliffs v • d • e Lower South Island Bluff • Catlins River • Dunback and Makareao • Fernhill • Hedgehope • Kingston • Kurow • Moeraki • Mossburn • Ngapara and Tokarahi • Outram • Port Chalmers • Roxburgh • Shag Point • Tapanui • Tokanui • Tuatapere • Waikaia • Waikaka • Wairio • Walton Park • Wyndham v • d • e Private lines Glen Massey Branch • Dunedin Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway • Dun Mountain Railway • Hutt Park Railway • Kaitangata Line • Sanson Tramway • Wellington and Manawatu Railway v • d • e Significant proposals Canterbury Interior Main Line • Nelson Railway Proposals • Taupo Railway Proposals • Wainuiomata Railway Proposals