Western Hutt railway station

Western Hutt railway station, formerly Lower Hutt (the official NZ Geographic Board name is still Lower Hutt), is an intermediate station on the single-track Melling Line in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, It is served by Metlink electric multiple unit trains operated by Transdev Wellington under the Metlink brand.[1][2]

Western Hutt
Metlink suburban rail
General information
LocationHutt Road, Alicetown, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Coordinates41°12′43.22″S 174°53′23.48″E
Owned byBuilding is privately owned as a pub, platform owned by KiwiRail
Line(s)Melling Branch
PlatformsIsland (formerly)
Tracks1
Construction
Platform levels1
Other information
Fare zone4
History
Opened14 April 1874
Rebuilt1892, 1906
Electrified1 March 1954
Previous namesLower Hutt
Services
Preceding station Transdev Wellington Following station
Melling
Terminus
 Melling Line Petone
towards Wellington
Designated25-Sep-1986
Reference no.1327

History

The station used to be on the Hutt Valley Line section of the Wairarapa Line until 1 March 1954, when the Melling-Belmont section of the line on the western side of the Hutt Valley was closed and the through line to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa rerouted through the centre of the valley. The truncated line to Melling via the Western Hutt Station was then electrified.

In the 19th century, the line from Wellington to the Hutt and the Lower Hutt Station were opened on 14 April 1874.

A new station building was erected in 1892, containing a ladies as well as a general waiting room.

D Class no 197 at Lower Hutt, 1906 with a motor train

A large new Lower Hutt Station building designed by George Troup was opened in 1906. The line from Lower Hutt to Petone was double tracked in 1905, although not completed to Wellington until 1911. The second (double) track from Lower Hutt to the Hutt Valley Junction was removed by 1958. Hoy remarked in 1968 that "the platform is still one of the longest in the district and a two-coach Melling train is lost in the middle".[3]

At one time the station had an "infamous" manure siding, to which loads of horse manure from Wellington streets were railed in a special "manure train".[4] The station was still an important goods facility after 1954, but in 1981 the Melling Branch lost the last of its freight traffic when the goods facilities at Lower Hutt station were closed and the local goods shunts to Lower Hutt ceased. Goods handling was transferred to a new facility at Gracefield.[5]

Lower Hutt station was renamed Western Hutt railway station following the opening of the Waterloo interchange on 26 November 1988.[6]

The building is now leased to various shops and businesses, and is called The Station Village Complex .

Services

The following Metlink bus routes serve Western Hutt station:

Previous Stop Metlink Bus Services Next Stop
Hutt Road
towards Petone		 150
Western Hills		 Railway Avenue
towards Kelson

References
  1. "About Us » Metlink". www.metlink.org.nz. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  2. "Transdev in Wellington - Home". www.transdevwellington.co.nz. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. Hoy, D.G. Rails out of the Capital (NZRLS, 1970) pp. 13,47,63,80
  4. Kaye, George (1987). Bygone Days in Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt: Lower Hutt City Council. pp. 26–28. ISBN 0-473-00523-9.
  5. Bromby, Robin (2003). "Branch Lines – North Island". Rails That Built A Nation: An Encyclopedia of New Zealand Railways. Wellington: Grantham House Publishing. p. 74. ISBN 1-86934-080-9.
  6. "Hutt Valley history 18; Lower Hutt railway station (built 1905); goods yard at rear". Upper Hutt City Library. Retrieved 26 August 2021.

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