Wellington's Surprising Suburban Network!
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- New Zealand's capital city Wellington is home to a fascinating and attractive suburban railway network, which has an interesting history and provides amazingly good coverage, for what is actually a rather small city. The 1067mm (3'6") gauge system consists of four electrified lines (1500v DC), as well as some longer distance diesel hauled commuter routes. In this video I talk about some of the interesting features of the network, as well as pointing out some of the scenic highlights. This video is illustrated by my own photos taken on visits in 2010 and 2015, and also features three pictures by Alexander Jamieson (aka @melbournesparks3828 ) who took the shot of the red English Electric set at 06:57, the EE interior at 10:27 and the tram shot (Wellington No.257 at MOTAT) at 10:55.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro (Wellington is small)
02:42 - The Kapiti Line
04:40 - The Hutt Valley Line
05:01 - The Wairarapa Line
05:37 - The Johnsonville Line
06:12 - The Melling Line
06:47 - The Trains!
09:30 - Creative rollingstock solutions
10:33 - The bit with no railways
11:24 - The end bit
#railways #newzealand #wellington #transport #trains
Having grown up in Wellington and now living on the Gold Coast, I had never really considered how lucky Wellington is to have such a good railway network relative to it’s size
The Johnsonville line was often under threat of being discontinued, particularly in the 90s, but thanks to Peter Dunne being the MP of the area and leader of a minor party that often found itself being required to prop up the government, the Johnsonville line managed to survive
Hey man, current driver on the suburban trains here :) excellent video overall, my only *very* slight gripe is how old all the footage is versus the upload date. But then again, you are referencing the history of the network too so it does make sense that it's a lot of older images.
You're right that extending the main line south is a bit expensive for a smaller city, but additionally we're sitting directly on top of earthquake faults here so extensive underground tunneling is significantly more expensive. Also, the government has literally only just confirmed it's support of a light rail line extending from the main station to the south coast suburb of Island Bay with a future eastbound extension to the airport on the cards eventually. There are also longer term plans being developed to extend the network further north and eventually have a Palmerston North to Wellington network operating as one.
Thanks for chucking some focus down our way 😁
Thanks, good to hear about the light rail, that would be a very good option! The age of the pictures is just because that was the last time I was in Wellington - I do hope to get back for some more up to date coverage one of these days!
I have no expectations anything will ever come of that light rail scheme.
It’s projected to cost something like 7 billion dollars. No way that such funding could be found,
That "future extension" will never happen. The whole plan is just lunacy. Those in control of this fiasco want to run a bus from Island Bay to the airport. They seem to think that people flying into Wellington will want to get off a plane and onto a bus that has to fight its way through traffic to Island Bay, then get off that and onto a tram. Madness. On the same page as the planners in Auckland thinking that people landing at the airport there will want to take a tram all the way into the city along with every other local commuter.
@@TxtalArmi I probably will at some point! I did write an article about Auckland in the Linesider magazine - I think it was issue 2 or 3.
@@TaitsetNew government has cancelled light rail, and has done a lot of other things that will be very detrimental to rail transport in the entire country.
As someone who lives in Welly so good to see this! Wellington has such a cool little rail network, but sadly the government doesn't want to pay to keep it to standard. New rolling stock is needed, and electrification to Masterton and Palmy is required. Double tracking in more parts is necessary and new/ upgraded stations. But nothing for the mo :-(
Electrification to Palmerston is not so simple. The network presently ending there uses the standard AC voltage of 25 kV 50 Hz, while Wellington has DC 1.5 kV. You either need to rebuild the Wellington network to the AC standard, or dual-mode locos/trains capable to run on both systems. The cleaner solution would be the first, but it would cost a fortune, I reckon.
@@michaellaudahn I mean having duel modal rolling stock isn't a big deal, you just need a non-electrified section for the train to roll and reapply its pantograph. You could do this at Otaki, south of the station northbound and North of the station southbound. It would only be needed for regional rolling stock and Intercity. They do this with trains between Denmark and Sweden or the Low Countries and France and Germany.
Well, GWRC submitted a budget bid for acquiring multi-mode diesel-electric multiple units to massively improve the Wairarapa and Palmerston North services... but the government didn't fund it this year. Pretty disappointing really since the report looks like a no-brainer ( www.gw.govt.nz/assets/Documents/2022/05/Redacted-LNIRIM_DBC_V1_20211101_Council-Approved_Redacted.pdf )
@@williamhall1873 Dual-mode traction has become standard in Europe, due to its 4 different voltage systmes (2 DC, 2 AC - there are even locos which can run under all 4). Yet looked at it on a 1-country basis each, you can see that they try to avoid it - like France which has a 'historic' 1.5 V DC network, yet the trend goes towards 25 kV AC (similar in Belgium and Holland).
Based on that, my guess would be that (if ever they close the gap - remember there's another between Hamilton and Auckland without the system break) they start with dual-traction stock, and postpone converting the Wellington network. But it will probably be done in the future, because an electrification system lasts only so many decades, so when the time comes would they want to renew it with 1.5 V DC?
@@michaellaudahn Ofc at some point standardising the network would be the ideal outcome. However, we live in New Zealand and doing something the right way is rarely something we do.
What a blast from the past! I rode every mile of the Wellington network (plus the entirety of the then steam-powered Main Trunk) as a schoolboy from 1954-57. It served us well to get from our boarding school to sporting and cultural events.
When I began commuting from Blackwood to Adelaide in 1978 near the end of the Red Hen era I would sometimes recall quite wistfully the smooth, quiet power (for then) of the Wellington sets. Thanks for the memories!
Yes it is a great blast from the past
Love to see more of New Zealand railways, bus and trams . I’m from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 🇦🇺.
I've lived in Wellington for most of my teenage and adult life. Recently moved to another city and man do I miss the trains. Where I live now has only buses and it takes an hour by bus to the central city, a trip that takes 20 mins by car and would probably take roughly the same amount by train.
Great video. Yes Wellington has an amazing rail network for such a small city. Being the capital must help. Glad New Zealand has a habit of keeping old track intact in case it can be used later. We in the Gold Coast Queensland have long known the "advantage" of closing railway lines because we thought cars were the way to go then spending billions (think of all that construction work) to re-add them again on inferior routes so that they remain a very minor part of the commuter picture.
How this ended in my list of watch next is a mystery however, truly enjoyed watching this from start to finish being a settled in adopted local.
Brilliant to see where some of the lines were cut off because Melling and Johnsonville lines last stops always didn't make sense to me, especially Melling.
Nice to walk through some of its history.
Very interesting! I had no idea that Wellington had such a nice regional rail system. I'd never really looked up transport in New Zealand, I just figured that since the cities are pretty small they wouldn't have much urban rail.
You are mostly correct. Urban rail really only exists in Auckland and Wellington. The problem in NZ is over the last 75 years, towns and cities have grown and expanded with no investment in rail - so they have been built out with no provision for tracks. Now it is too late in most of them. It would be prohibitively expensive to buy up the houses and properties needed to clear a way for the lines.
Wellington's is probably the best.
Auckland - despite being WAY more populous - has roughly the same sized system as Wellington, which means we leave huge swathes of the city without rapid transit. This is partly because Auckland's geography is just a lot less rail-friendly (look at how blob-shaped it is on a map, and how many water bodies get in the way), partly because we ripped out our trams just like everybody else, and partly because of modern politics. The lines we've got are fairly comfortable and modern, and we're in the process of adding a new tunnel and a couple new stations under the city centre which I think is going to be fantastic, but any further expansions are very controversial.
Christchurch is the other major city that could reasonably support urban or suburban rail. The population is near double Wellington, and the major demographic migration out to the outer towns (due to the 2011 earthquake doing so much damage to the central residential districts) means that they're in big need of new transport solutions. They've already got bustling freight rail, so the lines are there, but despite a proposal coming up every 5 years or so there seems to be no momentum in actually putting passengers back on the lines.
@@Nalehw Christchurch's problem is that it doesn't have a suitable terminus.
They lost their golden opportunity to get a suitable terminus after the earthquakes. Because the people there got this stupid insisting obsession with having tram-trains.
Hamilton, Dunedin and Tauranga (at least) could have commuter/suburban trains. Dunedin & Hamilton both used to.
@@Nalehw Because I'm very interested in urban rail transit generally I tend to seek out information on systems worldwide. I've been impressed by Auckland's recent developments and the new underground loop will certainly help to tie disparate sections of the network together. I'm looking forward to seeing its completion and (who knows?) maybe I'll get to visit NZ someday. I've never visited the southern hemisphere before... I'm eager to do so. I'm in the UK btw.
Thank you for such an informative video! I'm a Wellingtonian myself and travelled on the Kapiti line every day for about five years. It was only in about 2018 when the rail services changed from hourly off-peak to every half hour if I recall correctly. Also your proposed rail network to the airport and Miramar is included in a new government plan to build lightweight rail throughout the city. Looking forward to being able to take the train to work!
I used to live in paekakriki, and I was always interested in the other lines for some reason. Now that I live near palmerston north I figured how far the rail line went, and I was amazed! Thank you for this video
It should be noted that NZ ( and Wellington in particular) is subject to frequent earthquakes which can play havoc with the rails...On the western edge of the harbour the rail track runs along or beside a fault line which can be readily seen in the photos...
Hmm okay. I've never known the rails to have ever had havoc played with them from any earthquake...
@@danieleyre8913 It happens. ua-cam.com/video/5VNhFRiJtrc/v-deo.html
Thank you for a very interesting video. I grew up in Wellington but hardly ever used the system. All the best from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺
Excellent summary of the Wellington train network. I grew up there and was a bit of a train nerd as a kid.
I doubt Wellington CBD and southern suburbs could have a underground light-rail, being prone to earthquakes and expecting the big one for over 50 years could be deemed unsafe. Great video, you did wonders for our city, beautiful photos.
Great video. Interesting how the terrain has helped concentrate development which has in turn enabled a good railway system!
Just a thing about the Capital connection:
The reason why it's run by Kiwirail (and isn't part of metlink) is because it's an interregional service. The Wellington region ends north of Otaki, and everything that service serve's north of Otaki (Levin, Shannon & Palmerston North) are part of the Manawatu-Whanganui region. So the subsidies are split and Kiwirail provides the service & drivers.
Ah thanks, that makes sense! It's a shame they can't integrate the public information at least.
I live in Paraparaumu and work at Otaki. I really would love to take the train, rather than drive.
@@Persian-Immortal Okay. But how many jobs are there in Otaki? and how many people who work in them live in Paraparaumu, let alone would also prefer to take the train to their job than drive?
@@danieleyre8913 Actually, a lot these days. Otaki is growing in population and lot of people find a lack of public transportation troublesome. You should see the number of passengers getting of capital connection train that stops at Otaki.
It's a lot!
Plus petrol is at 3.20!
@@Persian-Immortal The Capital Connection is a commuter service to Wellington in the morning (and from in the evening). So it runs counter to the traffic flow you're needing to get from Paraparaumu to Otaki.
Since the EMU service was extended to Waikanae just over a decade ago; it has run at a loss and has survived on subsidies because it just can't attract enough patronage. It usually only has 2 cars Mon-Thur and 3 cars on Friday. If patronage ever increases; they can haul up to 8 cars to meet possible demand (and more services on a different timetable).
Otaki may be growing but its population is still under 5,000 people. It needs to become about 4 times bigger before it's no longer just a small town. As things stand; it has little in the way of local industries and other sources of employment for even local people let alone for people from beyond to commute to Otaki for.
Can a commuter bus service to Otaki from Paraparaumu be justified? If not; then how on earth can a dedicated train service?!
Metlink is already advanced into a tender process for 15 dedicated 4-car EBMU rolling stock to serve the Wairarapa Connection, as most of the older Diesel-electric locomotives are being retired (and mostly sent to Namibia or scrapped). And one set will probably be made available for the Capital connection. It will be more than enough for Otaki and to use as a platform to build future services with future growth from.
Great video... very interesting. I've watched one or two driver's eye view vids from the area before but this is the first one giving context and history. It's concise and evidently well researched. Subscribed!
You did really well with the pronunciations. I only noticed one minor mistake. I grew up in Masterton and your pronunciation of Wairarapa was excellent.
I’m not a train buff at all, but I love your videos, and find them well thought out narrated.
Was great to see this video as I’ve not been back to NZ since before covid, so it was nice seeing my favourite city from a very different perspective.
I seem to remember some issue with the tunnel sizing and the new trains, but that was years ago.
Hope you also rode the cable car. They used to run trolley busses throughout Wellington, but sadly replaced them. That was a mistake I think.
I concur. Excellent pronunciation, bar Waikanae, which ends with an "eye" sound, not an "ay". Yes there was an issue with the Matangis on the Johnsonville line. I'm not sure what the resolution was - I'm up the Hutt line, so it never mattered to me.
@@argyem6688 I believe my uncle said that the rail had to be lowered to fix the clearance issues through the tunnels.
@@argyem6688 _"Waikanae, which ends with an "eye" sound, not an "ay"_
Are you *SURE* about that? It wouldn't surprise me if that's wrong.
@@danieleyre8913 Wye'k'nye..that's the way we say it.
,,, further on a diff note,, once you leave Waikanae on the evening/night journey north to P North on the Capital Connection, the ride quality is...or certainly was the last time I used it.. quite a bit rougher in parts en route to Otaki,,where I got off.
@@jeanjones718 Yes but the line between Waikanae and Palmerston North usually only sees 2-4 movements a day. So there's no reason for Kiwirail to invest much money in its maintenance.
If more freight was moved on the line (like in the old days); Kiwirail would have a reason to invest more in the line and the ride would be smoother.
Nice video. I visited Wellington in 2007 so I got to ride the pre-Matangi system as well as the trolley buses. Great fun! I must go back one day.
Great video! Was much needed
Very well done and interesting summary of Wellington's railway network
Used to work with an ex Wellington driver. He reckoned the the English Electrics were good to drive and virtually indestructible because everything was so heavily built.
You have taught me something and I live in the south island of NZ.
An informative quality production, full of facts, and pleasingly not hyperbolic. Cheers
I ride these trains regularly, quite a good service
Very good informative video! Great job
Fantastic! I lived here for two years and took the trains daily, with the Johnsonville line being my main train. I loved it.
I liked that. Cheers. A million years ago I used to live in Wellington and the Hutt Valley, rode those old red trains a lot. Your vid brought it all back.
This is the most youtube video of all time. Enthrwaled the whole time. I love wellington trains so much 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
This is genuinely one of my favourite videos on youtube, and i am watching this for the 5th time!
Great video, thanks for sharing.
I love this video. I'm loving your in-depth explanation videos so far. Could you maybe do one or more talking about Sydney trains/light-rail/metro related stuff or networks in other cities in Australia, and of course whatever else in Melbourne you think would be good content?
Very cool video! I myself can also agree that the EE's and Ganz's are very cool units, have lots of fond memories of them when I was young.
Thanks for this excellent description of the great Wellington railway network.
If you visit again, you will be impressed by new station construction on all the lines and new double tracking between Tenth am and Upper Hutt on the Hutt Line.
I was in Wellington a couple of weeks ago. I took the Wairarapa train out to Masterton to catch up with friends. Great trip!
Those matangi trains are some of the best looking trains I have ever seen. IDK what it is they just look amazing.
I live right by the ngaio station on the J’ville line. Wonderful service and as you say the bush reserve along the Kaiwharawhara valley makes one forget they are almost in the city.
Very interesting and thank you!
Great video!
Great video, love to see our little city get a chance in the spotlight. I'm a born and bred Wellingtonian. I think our rail network is perfect for the city, it's a great size and connects all the right places.
More recently the government has started to invest into Wellington's rail network with the Future Rail Project which aims to increase resiliency to funding new hybrid rolling stock for the Wairarapa and Capital Connection services, (begrudgingly) phasing out our Victorian era ticketing system (where you'd go to a booking office and buy a single ticket or buy a ticket from the guard on board)and the current and ongoing refurbishment of the Capital Connection carriages to modern safety and accessibility standards however, with Wellington's growing population and the expansion of suburbs like Churton Park, I suspect more investment into new stations, extensions to lines or even new lines entirely may be warranted (ambitious I know since the government can't even get LGWM off the ground, you know what I mean Wellingtonians).
The Matangi fleet are certainly great trains and even for being introduced in 2011/2012, they still look so modern, and clean and are definitely a nice upgrade from the EE and Ganz sets. I've gotten to the point in my life where I've grown up with the Matangi sets for longer than the Ganz and EE sets though I do remember them fondly whenever I would take the train with my grandma from the Hutt to the city or the rare occasions I'd take the train on the Johnsonville line. I could be misremembering but I swear the Ganz sets also ran on the jville line, at least at some point, I don't know, could be a Mandela effect.
I know the vid is a year old but now is certainly a great time for Wellington Rail with all the improvements. I sure hope you plan on coming back in about 5 or 10 years once all the upgrades are complete.
The red cars were fully restored mechanically at the various workshops around the country after being brought back from museums. A great harkback to older economic models I felt. Involved one off remanufacturing in some cases
Thank you for this
Wellingtion Pretty much has the perfect suburban sprawl pattern for commuter rail. Long narrow strips of suburbia.
Cant say the same for Auckland, for the most part.
Love the snowy hills and those rugged looking trains.
I play Transport Fever and have 3 lines south of the main Wellington station. one to service the airport and peninsula you mentioned.
Funny that and then watching this video a year or so later.
I used to take the system from Paekakariki down to Wellington for various events or to see friends. It’s a beautiful ride from Paekakariki down to the Wellington station with gorgeous landscapes and seascapes all the way. Highly recommend it! Definitely better than driving.
Fascinating and enjoyable video.
Although I live in Britain, I've had an interest in NZ railways since my first visit in the 1970s. After travelling overnight from Auckland on the Silver Star sleeper, I saw the Wellington suburban system for the first time and got a photo of one of the English Electric locomotives.
Unfortunately, there were no trains from Picton to Christchurch so had to take the bus.
After touring South Island with a rental car, I took a local train to Lyttleton Harbour(I still have the rail ticket) for the then direct ferry back to Wellington. I did notice abandoned electrification gantries whilst at Lyttleton.
Back in Wellington, I then caught the Silver Fern back to Auckland so was able to see the North Island Main Trunk Line in daylight.
Seeing the suburban electrified systems around both Wellington and now Auckland, it is disappointing that Kiwi Rail and its predecessor NZR have put their faith in Diesels, most regrettably Chinese ones, when the cost of fossil fuels has gone through the roof. Even the electric trolleybuses of Wellington were doomed- seems crazy.
I didn't knew it hat such a challenging geography, very interresting video.
Great video, congratulations on the book cover.
I must ask where did you get that Metlink mug from? (2:05)
I can't remember sorry, I've had it for ages!
@@Taitset Understandable, must've been on sale somewhere during those Metlink days as i cant find anything. Thanks anyway!
With 40 seconds to go, you haven't mentioned the trolleybus network, which replaced trams and filled the voids. Alas, closed in the modern era.
Wellington station was a 1930s grand project, partly on reclaimed land, replacing two terminuses closer to the cbd. Trolleybuses provided the essential link, similar to the Sydney underground connecting Central to the cbd.
Johnsonville was fascinating, with automatic signalling, and crossing loops capable of holding only two-car trains. One four-car set could run in each peak, running around a two-car held in a loop.
In one bold experiment, a Ganz-Mavag was tiptoed to Johnsonville, but the type was never placed in revenue service there. That is why the EE sets survived as long as they did.
With the Tawa Flat deviation, all trains were hauled by electric locos to Paekakariki, and changed to steam there.
Before the two-stage extension of electrification, two peak emus were extended to Paraparaumu, hauled by diesels. The sets had extra batteries to run the lighting and the doors.
i grew up on wellington used to catch the trains alot. i got no idea how you know so much about the history
Great video - many thanks. I travelled the Hutt-Wellington line most working days for over 40 years from the - 1971/2014 - with a few years’ hiatus down south. I still have a box of rail tickets to prove it. Unreliable service? Just go use the Auckland rail service - enough said! The Wellington rail service is exceptional and the quicker a line is built to the airport the better.
taitset railway tycoon - I support it!
Worth noting that there was, at one point (1893 - 1917) a short extension of the rail service along the waterfront through what is now the CBD operated to a station that would be now in the Courtenay Place precinct. The branch was intended to travel all the way to Island Bay on Wellington's southern coast.
Sadly, businesses and residents found the steam locomotives disruptive, and competition from the tram network saw services fall from 212 services a week in 1904 to just 62 services a week by 1916.
Very interesting and excellent quality video. I was at first surprised to see that the old E series units ( as Wellingtonians call them ) were shown running as they have been gone for at least a couple-three years... they were adequate but many seemed to have leakage problems which made them smell quite musty. The F series, the new Korean trains, are excellent--quick, quiet, clean and ride well. I had 4 years using my Gold card on the Wairarapa Line, on the Featherston Flyer-- the carriages, very nicely re-upholstered in the past 3 years, are quite comfortable, the best of them having the large windows, power points for every seat, brilliant lighting and plenty of sought after tables. Average speed over the 90 minute trip is about 61 km/hr, with a dizzying top speed of 91 on a good day as you hit the rise to the tunnel, heading south.
Replying to myself..( no arguments that way.)." don't know why the black lines appear there.. and...I notice I am now signed in in my wife's persona......the real fishplate afficionado will sign in as Neville S-J .
Yeah I was wondering about the cross out because those Matangi trains are really top quality. Very well designed, fabricated to an excellent standard, comfortable, made of good quality materials and components, very smooth acceleration and deceleration, very little rocking & rolling of the carriages, excellent insulation from the cold and noise and wind outside. The only black mark I can think of about them is that one set of doors has a set of service panels on the floor next to them, making for an uneven surface that most would not be good for wheelchair users and could be a trip hazard. That’s about it.
Wellingtonian here.
You did better on pronunciation than most pakeha in New Zealand. :D
About the only pronounciation you had that made me wince was Aotearoa, and that was mostly an aussie accent thing.
Also the timing of this video is a bit funny, since they just announced plans to set up rail further south. I dont think it gets quite to the airport but it gets pretty close. IF they ever get around to building it.
@Leo I worked in a call center that covered Australia, and yeah the town names in Australia are brutal. :D
0:28 if you include Europe in "the western world" (which I would), it's not THAT uncommon. I live in a city of 600k in Germany, and we got an "s-Bahn" heavy rail network. But I get what you mean, it's pretty uncommon in the americas, Australia and nz.
But there's also an argument to be made that Wollongong has a heavy rail commuter network (especially the Port Kembla - Thirroul section). It's just also part of the larger Sydney network.
Great video anyway :)
Correct me if I'm wrong; but didn't Wollongong lose its former commuter rail services to the central highlands?
Wollongong isn't really a centre of employment like Wellington, even if it has a bigger population.
@@danieleyre8913 you're right it's not the Center of employment (since Sydney is nearby), I'm just saying that the rail network is also used by a lot of people to commute to Wollongong (not just to the inner city, but also North Wollongong for uni or the steelworks in Port Kembla), even though the rail service to Moss Vale is gone
The Johnsonville line is so fun
Perhaps someone could add a video and commentary on the Cable Car that runs from the CBD up to Kelburn and the university. A ride on this uncommon means of transport is well worthwhile
Well thank YOU!
5:43 That's near my house! The Johnsonville line has a lot of stations quite close together, but I can't gripe, because I live ~3 minutes from one.
11:37 my dad wrote that book, he may still have copies of the book
Thanks for this very impressive video. It provides a really good summary of the Wellington rail system which is such a vital part of the region’s infrastructure - as anyone will attest who tries to drive into Wellington on a day when the trains aren’t running - such as when a major storm lashes the region.
You’ve covered off the challenging geography of the Wellington area really well, including the point that it’s a region of distinct cities and urban areas, one of which, Wellington itself, dominates. Auckland is also dominated by its geography, in a way that’s not dissimilar to Sydney, but its urban area is still much more contiguous than Wellington’s.
I do agree with @Daniel Eyre’s comment in that, although the Wellington system stands out in the “Anglosphere” for serving such a small city, I don’t think it would be that remarkable in a European context. Wellington’s rail system is arguably much more inter-urban than urban, and in that sense it does have parallels with the networks that serve smaller regions in various parts of Europe, like some of the TER systems in France, for example, or some of the smaller S-Bahn systems in the German-speaking countries. It’s not uncommon to see double-decker trains operating on regional systems based around various smallish middle-European cities - look at Luxembourg for example - although not necessarily with the peakiness of demand that Wellington has to deal with, meaning that the two main lines have 10 minute peak frequencies - a 20 minute middle distance stopper alternating with a 20 minute longer distance express (combined into a single longer distance all stops pattern in the middle of the day).
You talk about the station being at the “northern end of the CBD”. A hundred years ago, the railways began to be used to enable urban development, directly related to Wellington’s role as the national capital. The first stage of the Hutt Valley deviation (that eventually led to Melling becoming a branch line terminus) was built in the 1920s, to enable what we might now call transit-oriented development (albeit at low densities) - public (“state”) housing for government workers in particular, who were able to be transported very efficiently to and from their jobs in government departments that were all located within a few hundred metres of Wellington Station. That, plus the challenging geography, became the main reason why electrification was justified from 1938 onwards.
Lastly, to the point about “no, not that Metlink” (2:06) - I was indirectly responsible for Wellington adopting that name in (from memory) 2005. I then worked for Greater Wellington Regional Council and we (staff and our design consultants) were talking to councillors about a name to go with the logo which had been introduced a couple of years earlier with the restructured Hutt Valley bus network. We were looking to develop a system-wide brand, initially for public transport information, and subsequently applied across all buses in the region as well as the trains. We had in mind some more adventurous names, but I referred to the examples of “Transperth'' and “Metlink” from across the Tasman, whereupon the then chair of the regional council said - “Metlink, that’ll do, let’s use that”, or words to that effect, and so - having checked out any copyright issues - Metlink it was!
Thanks again for the great video!
Anthony Cross
Cheers for the interesting background info Anthony. I'm interested: Was it that Ian Buchanan or was it Fran Wilde who decided to just rip off Melbourne's transit body's name?
It's an okay name I guess. But I think they dropped the ball with the choice of livery colours of lime green & dark teal (yuk). I suppose it's probably unique in the world (because few other cities would chose such a clashing scheme) and it has lasted almost 20 years at this stage which is saying something.
@@danieleyre8913 Ian Buchanan. Fran Wilde was a regional councillor by then, but she took over as chair after my time. Yes the colours took some getting used to, especially with the addition of the bright yellow on the fronts of the buses, but they've grown on me over time. Certainly distinctive!
@@anthonycross161 LOL each and to their own then…
Quite an interesting network, I'd love to visit and go for a ride some day. Those old english electric sets look lovely though I imagine they wouldn't be the nicest to ride on a daily basis as a commuter in the 2010s! I would suggest they could perhaps build a light rail to serve that unserved area to the south, unfortunate they ripped out both the trams AND subsequently the trolleybuses that served there.
Well before I moved to Melbourne as a Train Controller, I started my railway career in 2006 as onboard crew on those sets in Wellington. The English Electric didn't have the most comfortable ride, and some of the older 3 car sets had ventilation louvres in the doors which made them very cold in Winter, but they were very rugged sets, surprisingly reliable and very easy to troubleshoot if something happened (a good proportion of door faults were fixed by kicking them hard. They were made of Cast Iron).
They were very good sets to work on!
Central government just today announced they support a light rail system to the southern suburbs. It'll take many years for it to be delivered though, and there's always the risk of a change of government and subsequent cars-only transport policy to kill the project.
@@alex97594 that's excellent to hear that they're at least starting design work. It would be unfortunate for the project to be cancelled by a future government but it happens sometimes I suppose
@@MetroManMelbourne - The final design and costing hasn't started yet, so National will can it and it will turn into another 59 years of talk fests to try and get Wellington moving again. The announcement is that the central government support the option.
@@MetroManMelbourne It happens everytime we get a National Party-led coalition.
Honestly, I'm kind of sad they updated the look of the matangi trains, They looked super cool with all the wiring, reminds me of the electric locos of the 80s and 90s here in the UK! Have to admit aswell, those English Electric units look absolutely amazing. Also glad to see them still putting our old MK2s to good use, they look completely different now. Great little video though!
Felt like correcting some pronunciation errors 👍 (for the most part you did do well)
Paekakariki: Pie-ka-ka-re-key
Waikanae: Why-ka-n-i
Obviously not overly important to the video but nonetheless. Great video :)
(Also recently there was some showings of old steam trains at the wellington station, some they had going aswell!)
Thankyou, after four visits to NZ I still struggle with those place names!
In North America, waterloo Ontario is the outlier having a 19km lrt system for a city of only 500k, yet in New Zealand has a 150km long suburban network😧
the small EMUs on the cape gauge tracks running through mountains covered in greenery reminds me of Japan
There are actually three stretches of the Johnsonville line that use twin tracks so trains can pass each other going in opposite directions; before Crofton Downs, at Ngaio station, and at Khandallah station.
Those are passing loops, not double track in the conventional sense.
Very nice video! Some of the Commonwealth Railways NSU classes were tested on the mainline in the UK, which just goes to show how small trains over there really are.
You covered the net work well. We use the capital connection daily and the coaches are ex british rail 1st class units bought back in the 1980s. They are really at the end of their life.
Good news.
You are getting new rolling stock soon.
Bad news: Its more ex-BR Mk2 stock.
Good news: Its refurbished to the same standard as the Te Huia sets so you'll get power plugs, USB, onboard wifi [most likely], accessable toilets.
@@VhenRaTheRaptor New hybrid trains have been annonced
@@jonah6404 Yeah. Trimode Multiple Units.
They'll be a few years though, so the newly refurbished stock on the capital connection [due to enter service in the next few months] will be a useful stopgap until the new multiple units arrive.
I wished I watched this video before I rode on the Wellington trains. The rail lines are so beautiful! But I wonder why the Kapiti Line tunnels are so long that affected cell service haha. Should have packed a book, preferably about rail, to survive the tunnels :D
Not sure why this video was recommended to me, but it was an interesting watch. I live in Wellington. I would love to see the railway extended to airport and into Miramar, but realistically, building such a line underground in the city with its heritage buildings and earthquake issues is unfeasible. Also, I suspect there really wouldn't be the requirement. I think a light railway or tram along the waterfront to the airport would be more viable.
The introduction of Snapper (bus) cards on this rail network has begun on the Johnsonville line and will shortly occur on the Hutt Valley lines. Visitors from places like Sydney will find that much more user friendly.
The ganz sets sheared alot of equipment with Melbournes comeng trains wich is pretty cool
As someone who has traveled all welington lines (besides the captail connection) id say I like the kapti line and Johnson vile line never got to try the old kapti line with Johnsonvile connected
Looking at the places that aren't served by rail in Wellington, I think it would actually be a brilliant idea to bring back trams to those areas. Like proper modern trams with dedicated lanes and signal timings.
Wellington is working on at least one modern light rail line to fill that, yes.
Oh! Now do Christchurch, NZ's second largest city! You'll get 0:00 mins of content! Or maybe a minute, documenting the tram network thats been ripped up, served by a restored tourist tram. And the aforementioned Ferrymead, preserving old stock. Or the central city rail station, now replaced by two car yards and a petrol station.
Christchurch never had a central city station.
It only ever had a big station adjacent to the town centre along Moorhouse Avenue. And the heavy traffic along Moorhouse isolated the station too much from the 60s.
If Chistchurch ever built a proper civic railway terminus; it’s suburban trains would’ve survived. If they hadn’t let the opportunity to build one pass them by after the earthquakes a decade ago; they would probably have the established beginnings of one by now.
@@danieleyre8913 More madness. Christchurch had the golden opportunity to build heavy rail in more directions to serve a greater part of the city and they dropped the ball. A new central station could have been built, along with extending the light rail to other parts of the CBD and beyond. It's typical of the bad decision making that goes on in this country.
@@sw6188 Yes I agree. They also could've also done something more with the tramway, and integrated it with the trains and buses.
Johnsonville line reminds me of the Belair line on the Adelaide Metro network, sister city of Otautahi Christchurch
Yes they certainly have a lot in common!
The Melling line, I believe, originally ran all the way up to Haywards Power Station and provided a rail link for heavy supplies direct from the Wharves, while the Cook Strait DC to AC Conversion Power Station was being built. The Hutt Valley line originally stayed on the Eastern side of the river all the way up to Upper Hutt. Remnants of this section are at the Silverstream Heritage Railway site off Reynolds Bach Drive.
Interesting point about having a rail line cross Wellington City is that it would have to cross the Active Wellington Fault Line (again) to pass through the city.
The Melling line (west of the river) was the original 1870s Hutt Valley line. The line from Petone to Waterloo (east of the river) was built in 1927 primarily to serve the new Hutt Workshops. The line was extended north of Waterloo to Haywards via Taita in the late 1940s and early 1950s to serve new suburban development, culminating in 1954 with the Melling to Haywards line closing and traffic diverted via Taita. At the same time, they replaced the original single-track Silverstream bridge with a new double-track bridge around 500m to the north, with the old formation becoming the Silverstream Heritage Railway. The HVDC station was built much later in 1962-65.
@@lcmortensen Well said.
And furthermore: There was also a station at Kelson, adjacent to where the primary school still stands. And the railway went roughly where the southbound two lanes of the state highway 2 limited access road now goes, while the actual road for automobiles (and horse & carts) was what is now called "Hebden crescent" that runs parallel to the road & mainly used by quarry trucks.
The original postwar plan for Lower Hutt actually had a lot more retail & office and housing development on the eastern side of the river near what is now Western Hutt station (but used to be known as "Lower Hutt" station), as they Lower Hutt council didn't anticipate the Wairarapa line being entirely re-routed through the Hutt at the time.
@@lcmortensen Do you know where the 1870s Hutt Valley line crossed the Hutt River to head towards Silverstream? Are there any visual remains of it?
@@sw6188 It crossed Eastern Hutt Road at the present intersection with Reynolds Bach Drive. IIRC, remnants of the eastern abutment and piers can be seen at the entrance to the Silverstream Heritage Railway.
@@lcmortensen Thanks for that. Clears up one question I've had for some time!
Fantastic video! Just a bit of boring history, but possibly fairly unique for cities anywhere.
The two diverging lines from the city, although following the range divides, were built for very different reasons, and by very different bodies.
Wellington in the 1870's was a small settlement by any standards with a population of around 20,000. Encompassed by a harbour and large ranges, there was a need for the settlement to receive its commodities, especially produce, and also a way to expand the burgeoning population and to expand its economy. With this in mind, and borrowing large sums of cash, the Government chose the route through to the fertile Wairarapa as its farmlands were deemed ripe for settlement and farming on a substantial scale, not only to service the cities needs, but also the railway was realistically the only practical way to get the farmers produce to Wellingtons excellent harbour for export.
The Hutt Valley at the time and beyond were very sparsely populated, and running the railway through the area encouraged suburban development to a previously unheard of extent.
On the other side of the region the coastal areas were already well established, with existing settlements regularly dotted up the coast continuing northwards.
With the government reluctant to build yet another railway line, some rather enterprising (and deep pocketed) locals borrowed some more money from England, although most of it was raised locally, and built the coastal railway as basically a transport system to already established settlements.
Essentially the wairarapa line brought settlers to the farmlands and brought their results to the city and the harbour, the coastal line brought goods from the city and harbour out to the established settlements.
Rather awkwardly Wellington for 50 years until 1937 had the rather dubious distinction of two main railway stations, one for each line, even decades after the government took over the private line in 1908.
Apologies for the too long comment
Fun fact knuckle matangi units still exist catched one a few days ago
Interesting, I didn't realise that!
The railway was supposed to go all the way to Island Bay once upon a time (the airport and the eastern suburbs were mostly farmland at that point). But rails only reached as far as the former Te Aro station just south of where Te Papa is now between Cable and Wakefield streets. It being built in the late 1890s it was served by steam, and steam going through the city centre was not very popular. Electrification would have been more complicated back then and people would have rightly said that the tram network already served the city well enough so the rails were ripped up in 1917. If it had stuck around slightly longer it may have received electrification and a significant upgrade.
I was very rare, but i do recall on one or two occasions seeing the English Electrics run on the Kapiti Line. I never actually rode one myself.....I was still at school when they were retired and rarely used trains.
The big advantage of the Matangi's over their predecessors is easier wheelchair access, as the non-power car is low floor with no steps upon entry. The ramps (fitted by the green doors) are much easier to use than the stowed fold-out ramps used on the Ganz Mavag's, and there are dedicated wheelchair spaces on board, along with space for bikes as well!
Also, I understand from some friends more into rail than me that the Ganz Mavag's were unsuitable for the Johnsonville line, hence they were almost never used on it.
The ticket system is on it's way out...Snapper, Wellington's tag-on tag-off ticket system used on the bus network, is already on the Johnsonville line and will be on the other lines by the end of the year, hopefully.
I have spent the last few days back in Wellington after emigrating over 15 years ago.
Over the years I maintained an interest in NZ railways (my late father worked for them and some members of my extended family also worked at the Hutt workshops and the now long gone east town works in Wanganui). And over the last decade I saw a lot of people online bagging the FP/FT Matangi EMU’s. Many people called them “Korean crap” or “plastic fantastic’s” or even bagged the appearance of their front end’s with their emergency exit’s (as if that matters).
I rode them on the Hutt and Kapiti lines yesterday (in the bad weather) and I can say now that this was all complete and utter twaddle. The Matangi’s are really top quality rolling stock. Very well designed and fabricated to a very high standard. And clearly made from top quality components and materials, some of the units are over a decade old yet only look like they have a couple of year’s worth of wear and tear. Their acceleration and deceleration are so smooth and they have little rolling and shaking (unlike the one’s I rode a few days before in Auckland). And so cosy and comfortable inside.
The only bad thing I can say about them is that they have those access panels adjacent to one set of doors on the low floor section, which is not good for disabled folk and a possible trip hazard.
@@danieleyre8913 They're not terrible, and I can say that as someone who uses them daily to get to and from work (I work at Wellington Hospital). But I have been on trains overseas that I liked more. My gripe with the Matangi's isn't any quality problems, more that they're not very interesting. They sound dull, look dull with the bare-metal livery that I've always found ugly, and have no real features that stand out. They're quite generic and boring trains with little character.
@@the_alex_ellis_channel6923 Huh? I don’t know if any other EMU like them anywhere, especially in terms of internal layout. How is that not interesting?
@@danieleyre8913 It's interesting at first, but when you've been on them as many times as I have, the novelty wears off. But I guess that will happen with any train if you ride it day in day out like me.
@@the_alex_ellis_channel6923 So what train can you give as an example of interesting then?
Wellington is planing to build a light rail in wellington to island bay, Key word is Planing as it might fall flat
I strongly doubt it’s ever going to happen. It’s far too expensive and disruptive (and inherently flawed in its design). 7.4 billion is an obscene amount of money. The councillor behind it Tamantha Paul is likely to be gone from office come next local body elections. And even if Labour win the next election; I would not be at all surprised if minister Michael Wood is moved on.
Honestly: For 7.4 billion dollars they could extend the mainline unground under Wellington even with the seismic issues.
What if they connect the Airport and peninsula via extending the spur lines of Johnsonville and Melling. Like Johnsonville Line going to the Airport then goes to the south part of the peninsula while Melling goes to the north part of it. The Hutt Valley one can go further south towards that valley adjacent those hills before the Airport. Kapiti Line could skirt along the coast of the west part of that northern harbor and down to the Airport and then skirt westward to that valley meeting up with the Hutt Valley Line forming a loop there. Just a thought ~
Honestly, the Wellington trains are so much better than the ones here in Auckland. Trains in Wellington are very fast and scenic. The ones in Auckland are extremely slow and slack, and they never appear on time, and they aren't very scenic.
The Ganz EMUs sounded like the NSW V sets to me.
This was really interesting, thank you. You forgot to mention though that the service is very unreliable, and with the smallest frost all services are stopped. With global warming and all the adverse weather conditions we’ve been having, it really doesn’t meet the standards it needs to
The Wairarapa line has both reliability and punctuality problems. The track renewal program running until 2024 should alleviate many issues. And the new 4-car rolling stock coming later in the decade should drastically fix that problem for a decade.
The 4 EMU lines have mostly had reliability over 95% and usually over 97.5% over the last decade, which by international standards is excellent. The punctuality hasn't been so great though, but still mostly over 90%
there are plans in the works for wellington to build a light rail system from the station to the south coast in Island bay
I strongly doubt that anything will come of those plans. Especially given the obscene price tag.
I've lived in Wellington my whole life and I've never used our suburban network (the JVL). Just the regional one (up to Waikanae)
I commute on the Kapiti line almost daily. The best part is definitely the scenic views and the worst is the payment system. You have to pay by cash when on the train and the only way to use eftpos is at the stations ticket stands which are not always open. You receive a paper ticket which can be easy to loose and very expensive if you buy something like a monthly pass. If they implemented a card system, something like the Myki cards in Melbourne I think it would make a great improvement to the network.
You can buy a monthly pass (which is actually cheaper for daily commuters). And you can buy cardboard tickets at major stations with an office such as the Wellington Terminus, Porirua and Paraparaumu.
The Johnsonville line has had optional payment by metlink snapper card for over 6 months. The Kapiti line will also have that option by the end of this year.
The Snapper system is in the stages of being rolled out across the entire network so you will be able to tag on and off to ride any train. At this stage it is only available for use on the Johnsonville Line.
Great video! Very informative. Is there any chance of covering the Auckland network as well?
Also re the airport line - Wellington is meant to be getting a light rail network but our governments over here are not very good at actually getting things built so who knows if or when that will happen
The former Airporter city to airport bus service will restart on the 1 July 2022 as the Airport Express services from Wellington Railway Station to Wellington Airport using battery powered buses stopping at stops in the Wellington central business district to Courtney Place, Kilbirnie and the airport.
The planned light rail system isn't servicing the airport.
Scrapping the Wellington (Wgton) trams was not a mistake. The tracks made it impossible to fully seal road surfaces on hilly suburban routes and consequently there were repeated expensive problems with undermining of tram tracks and roads. The local terrain comprises an extinct volcano crater (the harbour) and post-glacial valleys. We also have active earthquake faults. Central tracks were a huge traffic problem except in a few parts of Wgton CBD. Adelaide Road is nice and wide for the first part but they had to build a huge concrete track bed to support the tram track. That concrete track bed caused massive problems for the drainage contractor (and obviously larger bills for the ratepayers) about twenty (20) years back when the drains under Adelaide Road were replaced. It is all very well (as I have done) to ride an old Wgton tram at QEII Park on a nice bit of flat line built over sand country BUT that was not the reality of Wgton’s tram network!
Melbourne has nice wide roads and much easier gradients which is why the trams worked so well when I visited in 1991.
P.S. the ‘ae’ at the end of Waikanae is pronounced like the ‘ie’ in die, lie, tie, etc.!
I think you nailed the pronunciation!
Cheers. :)
1:22 The main systems that you show here (Kāpiti and Hutt lines) run along faultlines which your topographical map really highlights. We're just waiting for the next big shake to move them all around.
ETA: And your Māori pronunciation is not bad; not perfect but better than a lot of Kiwis.
Good to know, I wasn't quite sure! :)
1067? That’s the main gauge for railways in my country
And there is a connection.
Japan was responsible for most of the [early] railway construction in Taiwan.
And a mix of bringing in engineers who had worked in NZ and bringing in equipment that was originally destined for NZ meant Japan built at 1067mm.
At least if I am getting location right?
@@VhenRaTheRaptor yes you got the location right
Same lol
@@SalmanMentos where are u from?
@@____admin indonesia lol
Central Govt have just announced (yesterday) light rail (modern trams) from Wellington Central Railway Station to Lyall Bay. Wellington it seems is going full circle. Whether it happens in my life time is the big question
It's planned to go to Island Bay, which won't serve many people at all. It's not even going to link to the airport.
3:22 this is soon to be surpassed by the 4,478m long Tunnel 6 on Indonesia's Jakarta - Bandung high speed line
Interesting, thanks!