A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Metlink | |
|---|---|
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.jpg) _(53543785319)_(cropped).jpg) .jpg) From top left to bottom right: Matangi train at Paekākāriki station, Metlink bus on Lambton Quay, and the Wellington Cable Car | |
| Overview | |
| Locale | Greater Wellington |
| Transit type | Suburban rail, bus, funicular, ferry |
| Annual ridership | 33 million[1] |
| Website | metlink.org.nz |
| Operation | |
| Operator(s) | Tranzurban, Uzabus, NZ Bus, Mana Coach Services, Transdev Wellington, Wellington Cable Car Ltd, East by West Ferries |
Public transport in the Wellington Region, branded under the name Metlink, is the public transport system serving Wellington and its surrounding region. It is the most used public transport system in New Zealand per capita,[a] and consists of electric and diesel buses, suburban trains, ferries and a funicular (the Wellington Cable Car). It also included trams until 1964, and trolleybuses until 2017.
Buses and ferries are privately owned, with the infrastructure owned by public bodies, and public transport is often subsidised. The Greater Wellington Regional Council is responsible for planning and subsidising public transport, and pays around NZ$30 million for bus and train services each year.[3] The system covers Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, the Kāpiti Coast and the Wairarapa.
System
Extent
The Regional Council's Regional Public Transport Plan[4] notes that Wellington had in 2017:
- a rail network with 147 carriages serving 53 stations
- a bus network with approximately 470 buses serving around 2,800 stops on around 108 routes
- two harbour ferries
- a five-station funicular, the Cable Car.
GIS information indicates that 77% of the region's population lives within 800 metres of public transport stop with a 30-minute frequency or better.[5]
Wellington's hilly terrain has a considerable effect on public transport. Some planners consider Wellington to be a "good" city for public transport management, as the topography concentrates settlement in valleys or along coastlines, providing clear, dense "corridors" for transport routes. At the same time, however, the hilly terrain proved a hindrance for the construction of rail and tram lines, and buses sometimes have difficulty on narrow and winding streets.
Usage
According to Metlink, over 40 million passenger trips were made by public transport in Wellington in 2018/2019, and this number has been growing in recent years. The Wellington region has the highest per capita use of public transport in New Zealand,[6] with 72.66 trips per capita in the year ending September 2019.[7]
Of the approximately 37.33 million trips, around 24.33 million are made by bus, 12.80 million by train, and 0.18 million by ferry.
| Year | Bus | Ferry | Rail | Total patronage[8] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001/02 | 19,795,687 | 114,163 | 10,163,061 | 30,072,911 |
| 2002/03 | 20,711,898 | 117,027 | 10,010,448 | 30,839,373 |
| 2003/04 | 21,338,606 | 127,110 | 9,953,408 | 31,419,124 |
| 2004/05 | 21,902,604 | 137,844 | 10,253,811 | 32,294,259 |
| 2005/06 | 23,487,552 | 155,799 | 11,097,423 | 34,740,774 |
| 2006/07 | 22,794,990 | 156,718 | 11,175,993 | 34,127,701 |
| 2007/08 | 22,964,384 | 177,128 | 11,552,453 | 34,693,965 |
| 2008/09 | 23,381,247 | 179,981 | 11,875,820 | 35,437,048 |
| 2009/10 | 23,647,840 | 182,034 | 11,133,677 | 34,963,551 |
| 2010/11 | 24,026,904 | 176,581 | 11,202,227 | 35,405,712 |
| 2011/12 | 24,111,291 | 176,698 | 11,274,141 | 35,562,130 |
| 2012/13 | 23,607,936 | 192,549 | 11,355,403 | 35,155,888 |
| 2013/14 | 23,981,194 | 180,155 | 11,643,292 | 35,804,641 |
| 2014/15 | 24,098,765 | 179,106 | 12,128,995 | 36,406,866 |
| 2015/16 | 24,331,408 | 197,889 | 12,801,182 | 37,330,479 |
| 2016/17 | 24,437,473 | 195,751 | 13,121,525 | 37,754,749 |
| 2017/18 | 24,716,617 | 204,209 | 13,552,866 | 38,473,692 |
| 2018/19[9] | 24,746,993 | 202,201 | 14,323,878 | 39,273,072 |
a Patronage data from the 2018/19 year is not directly comparable with previous years, particularly for bus services, due to changes in the reporting method for statistics related to the implementation of new bus contracts in the region. Details may be found in the cited spreadsheet.
Ticketing
Snapper cards to pay for fares instead of paper tickets are used on most bus services since 2009; on the Johnsonville Line since 2021;[10][11] and on the Hutt Valley Line, Kapiti Line, Melling Branch and the Wairarapa Connection since November 2022.[12] Tickets for a single ride can also be purchased on board using cash.
_(53543780639)_(cropped).jpg)
Modes
Buses
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Wellington has an extensive network of bus routes. The routes are determined by the Regional Council, which regulates commercially provided services and solicits bids from private operators to run the services it is prepared to subsidise.
From July 2018, the largest operator is Tranzit Group, which provides services for most of Wellington City, the Hutt Valley, and the Wairarapa under the Tranzurban brand.[13][14] In Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast most services are provided by Uzabus. Other bus providers in the region include Mana Coach Services (owner of Newlands Coach Services) which provides services in the northern suburbs and Tawa, and NZ Bus which provides services from Eastbourne and the east-west spine between Karori and Miramar. Prior to July 2018, the largest operator was NZ Bus, which provided services for most of Wellington City under the GOWellington brand and for the Hutt Valley under the Valley Flyer and Runciman Motors brands. In Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast most services were provided by Mana Coach Services.
The majority of buses in the Wellington area are powered by diesel, but GOWellington also had 60 trolleybuses that it operated within Wellington city. The trolleybus network was introduced between 1949 and 1964 to replace Wellington's trams (see below) and closed down in October 2017. From July 2018, Tranzit will introduce electric buses progressively onto their routes; the Greater Wellington Regional Council has also voted to look into proposals to make both rapid transport spines, Johnsonville to Island Bay and Karori to Seatoun, fully electric by 2021 and 2023 respectively and make a core route in both the Hutt Valley and Porirua fully electric as electric buses are introduced. As of April 2024, Wellington has 103 electric buses in urban service, the second highest electric fleet in New Zealand after Auckland which has 133 electric buses. [15] Since 2018, new diesel buses on Metlink routes are required to be at least Euro V standard.[16]
All Metlink buses accept the contactless Snapper card.[17] As of April 2011, Wellington buses report real time location information which is displayed on electronic signs in some Wellington bus stops and can be viewed online.[18]
From 2019, bike racks have been fitted to most buses operated in Metlink branding.[19]
Tawa has 5 on-demand minibuses operated by Mana for a year's trial from 16 May 2022.[20]
Trains
Transdev Wellington operates Metlink's five-line 154-kilometre (96 mi) commuter network, which fans north out of Wellington railway station as far as Waikanae in the north and Masterton in the east. Transdev Wellington operates the service under contract to the Greater Wellington Regional Council with rolling stock (except for diesel locomotives used on the Wairarapa services) owned by the council, and rail infrastructure owned by KiwiRail. Until 2016 KiwiRail division Tranz Metro had the contract to operate Metlink's services.
On average, 930,000 trips are made on Metlink trains each month.[8] In 2013-14, Tranz Metro claimed 94.3% punctuality, being the proportion of trains arriving within five minutes of schedule (94.7% punctuality if normalised for the effects of the 2013 Seddon earthquake and 2013 Lake Grassmere earthquake).[21]
Since July 2016, Wellington's commuter rail services have been operated by Transdev Wellington.[22] Transdev subcontracts KiwiRail to provide and operate the diesel locomotives on the Wairarapa services. In the year ending 30 June 2017, 88.3% of rail services ran on time; this figure is lower than previous years, as timeliness is now measured directly by Metlink rather than relying on self-reporting by the operator, and is measured at all key stations rather than just Wellington Station.[23]
There are two major rail corridors in Wellington. The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) runs along the western coastline, passing through Porirua and Paraparaumu to Waikanae on the Kāpiti Coast (known as the Kapiti Line); the Wairarapa Line runs along the edge of Wellington Harbour and then up the Hutt Valley, passing through both Lower and Upper Hutt (known as the Hutt Valley Line). Less frequent services continue through the rural Wairarapa, stopping at a number of small towns before terminating at Masterton. There are also the Johnsonville Line in the north of Wellington and the Melling Line on the western side of Lower Hutt. The Kapiti Line and Hutt Valley Line are mostly double track, except for a short stretch on the Kapiti Line between Muri and Paekākāriki (the North–South Junction) and between the Waikanae River and Waikanae station. The Johnsonville line is single track with passing loops, while the Melling lines is single track throughout.
There are 49 stations in the rail network, all except Wellington railway station owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council. Wellington station is the busiest by far, with trains arriving and departing every few minutes at peak times. The next busiest stations are Porirua, Waterloo (in Lower Hutt) and Johnsonville. Most stations are served by only one line.
Most trains are the FP class Matangi electric multiple units, in sets of two to eight cars, introduced from 2011. They displaced the older DM class English Electric units, the last of which were withdrawn from service in 2012, and the EM class Ganz Mavag units, the last of which were withdrawn from service in 2016. The Wairarapa line beyond Upper Hutt is not electrified, so the Wairarapa Connection trains to Masterton are diesel-hauled with SW and SE class carriages.
There are long-distance trains to Palmerston North (the Capital Connection commuter train) and Auckland (the Northern Explorer). These are not part of the Wellington transport system.
History
Electric suburban services began in July 1938,[24] following the opening of the Tawa flat deviation of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). The Johnsonville Line, the former route of the NIMT out of the capital, was the first line to be electrified. By 1940 the NIMT (the present Kapiti Line) had been electrified as far north as Paekākāriki.
The Hutt Valley Line was electrified to Taitā in 1953 to coincide with major state housing developments in the area. In 1954, the Wairarapa railway line was diverted between Petone and Haywards via Waterloo and Taitā, with the old line truncated to Melling to form the Melling Line. Electrification was extended to Upper Hutt in 1955.
Also in 1955, the 9 km Rimutaka Tunnel between Upper Hutt and Featherston opened, bypassing the laborious Rimutaka Incline and reducing the travel time from Wellington to Featherston to just over one hour, and from Wellington to Masterton to one-and-three-quarter hours. The Wairarapa Connection service started nine years later, after morning and afternoon peak services started to exceed the 176-seat capacity of the diesel railcars (twin NZR RM class) then used.
Electrification was extended to Paraparaumu in 1982, and to Waikanae in February 2011 to coincide with the arrival of the new Matangi electric multiple units. The (diesel-hauled) Capital Connection to Palmerston North also operates on this route.
In April 2023 the Wellington rail network faced weeks of delays because of 70 kph speed limits on all lines after rail evaluations by thebroken track evaluation car had not been scheduled for May 2023, although the period was subsequently reduced to the week of May 1 to 5. These safety checks are due every four months. NZR has one track evaluation car; which required an annual inspection .The repairs required were restricted to turning of wheels.[25]
