Ava railway station

Ava railway station is a suburban railway station serving parts of Petone and Alicetown in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. It is located in a residential area bordering these two suburbs, 12.5 km (7.8 mi) north of Wellington, and is part of the Hutt Valley Line. Services are operated by Transdev Wellington on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Trains stopping at Ava run to Wellington, Taitā and Upper Hutt.

Ava
Metlink suburban rail
General information
LocationNorth Street, Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Coordinates41°13′10.52″S 174°53′30.06″E
Owned byGreater Wellington Regional Council
Line(s)Hutt Valley Line
PlatformsIsland
TracksMain line (2)
Construction
ParkingYes
Other information
Station codeAVA
Fare zone4
History
Opened27 May 1927
Rebuilt1976
Electrified14 September 1953
Services
Preceding station Transdev Wellington Following station
Woburn
towards Upper Hutt
 Hutt Valley Line Petone
towards Wellington

The station has an island platform between double tracks with a pedestrian overbridge at each end of the platform, connecting the station with Wakefield Street and Alicetown to the north, and North Street and Petone to the south.

History

The station was one of the three new stations on the then Hutt Valley Branch opened on 26 May 1927. Provisionally referred to as "the Cuba Street station", it was eventually named Ava after another nearby street. From 1 March 1954 with the closing of the Melling to Haywards section, this route became the main route to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa. Ava initially had sidings, which had been removed by 1970.[1] In 1976, the original 1927 building was replaced by a new shelter.[2]

On the night of 8 December 2014, a northbound "Matangi" FP/FT unit 4397 hit a downed traction pole at the station and became entangled in the overhead lines. No passengers or crew were injured, but the unit suffered frontal damage from the impact with the pole. Electric train services between Taitā and Petone were cancelled the following day while three traction poles and 150 metres of overhead line were repaired.[3]

The western access ramp over the railway was found to require strengthening work in February 2016. It was later damaged in the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake on 14 November and, due to safety risks, was removed during the weekend of 17–18 December, leaving the station inaccessible by wheelchair, as the eastern access ramp only has stairs.[4] The western ramp was rebuilt and reopened in October 2018.[5]

Services

Transdev Wellington, on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, operates Hutt Valley Line electric suburban services between Wellington and Upper Hutt via Ava. The basic daytime off-peak timetable is:

  • 2 trains per hour to Wellington, stopping all stations
  • 2 trains per hour to Upper Hutt, stopping all stations

No Metlink bus routes connect to Ava station directly, although routes 83 and 110 pass close by.

References
  1. Hoy, D. G. Rails out of the Capital (New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1970) pp. 53,54
  2. New station Rails October 1976 page 10
  3. Hunt, Tom (9 December 2014). "Power pole in train's path". Wellington: The Dominion Post. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  4. "Ava Station loses pedestrian ramp access". Stuff (Fairfax Media). 13 December 2016.
  5. "Ava Station". Metlink. 8 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
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