this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2023
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Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui / Wellington

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New Melling line would cut Wairarapa commute times (www.thepost.co.nz)
submitted 1 year ago by misterharbies to c/wellington
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I have always wondered why the Melling line was not extended to connect with the Wairarapa line at Manor Park. Now it could be a possibility.

And we may have missed an opportunity to relocate the Melling Station onto the other side of the river on the Riverbank car park, closer to the Lower Hutt CBD. We could still retain the car parking as it is, and have the new station on raised platforms, with the cars below. But I'm not a geotechnical engineer.

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[–] gibberish_driftwood 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Has anyone come across a more detailed plan or spec for this?

I remember hearing something about it, maybe a year ago. I can sort of see the route where it would presumably follow, maybe close to SH2 on the south side until the existing line comes in to Manor Park(?).

At a glance I can't really see how it's possible without, at the very least, plouging through a bunch of existing houses in the vicinity of Owen Street, and maybe also building the line in some flood-prone areas (which may be fine if it can be done to survive the flooding). Especially if it's double tracked, as the article suggests it might be. This might be the plan but it'd be helpful to have a clearer understanding of what's at stake.

[–] misterharbies 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Have not seen any plans myself. Kiwirail do have a GIS viewer, but it's not mobile friendly. At first glance it does not appear that they own any land beyond Melling, so would probably need to acquire the land.

One of the reasons I suggested the Melling Station be above the Riverbank car park was so that it could continue along Harcourt Werry Drive, and avoid the properties around Owen Street.

[–] gibberish_driftwood 2 points 1 year ago

Are you meaning to cross to the south side of the river shortly after Melling and continue from there? They're suggesting a new station for Belmont which I'd assumed to mean the northern side but maybe not, or maybe with a later crossing after that.

I hadn't considered that possibility but it seems simpler if it can be done in a resilient way and if the most obvious conflicts with roads, cycleways etc were resolved somehow.

[–] sylverstream 2 points 1 year ago

That would be awesome! Melling line is very slow, and not convenient at the moment.

[–] witkhdoktore 2 points 1 year ago

Not only did there used to be a track there as the article mentions, this route was in fact the original Wairarapa line, before what was called the Silverstream diversion. For a time both routes were kept. Its a crime that the original line was removed, its a shame that no one had the foresight to at very least maintain the corridor for the future.