Wellington update: Work over Easter
KiwiRail is in the middle of an $870 million upgrade of the Wellington metro network. It includes work around Wellington and the Wairarapa to enable more frequent trains, and other improvements to support Greater Wellington Regional Council’s new hybrid trains to the Wairarapa and Palmerston North.
We have a lot of work to do and have to do it while commuter trains keep running. To minimise disruption we need to take advantage of times when rail patronage is low, to get work done efficiently and productively.
This Easter most of the Wellington network will be closed to passenger trains between 29 March and 1 April. Trains will be running between Porirua and Waikanae.
We will have about 280 staff and contractors out across network this Easter, working 24/7 in many places. Work will include:
- Replacing a crucial piece of track infrastructure (turnout) near Petone, which allows trains to turn onto the Melling Line.
- Doing initial work in the Remutaka Tunnel, ahead of major track replacement work at Christmas.
- Continuing work on the Fitzherbert St (SH2) level crossing in Featherston. Work over Easter is focussed on the pedestrian part of the crossing and will not require the road to be closed.
- Installing cables under the Matarawa Rd and Moffats Rd level crossings south-west of Carterton. This is part of an upgrade to the Wairarapa signals system, to allow more frequent trains.
- Laying new track at Tawa, which will require the McLellan St level crossing to be closed.
- Replacing ballast (the rocks the tracks sit in) around the northern end of Waikanae. There will be traffic management around the Hadfield Road level crossing.
- Continuing work around Wellington Railway Station to improve signals and track layout, which will allow more trains in and out of the station.
Click here to view upcoming works on a map.
Metlink will be running bus replacements in areas where the track is closed. Visit Metlink's website for more information.