Tracks Main line (2) Bicycle facilities Yes Opened 26 May 1927 Owner Wellington Region Platforms Dual, side | Parking Yes Station code WATE Line(s) Wairarapa Line Rebuilt 26 November 1988 Connections Bus services | |
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Location Cambridge Terrace, Waterloo, Lower Hutt, New Zealand Owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council Address Waterloo, Lower Hutt 5011, New Zealand Similar Epuni Railway Station, Upper Hutt Railway Station, Woburn Railway Station, Petone Railway Station, Manor Park Railway Station - N | ||
Waterloo Interchange railway station is a dual-platform suburban railway station located in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, serving the suburbs of Waterloo, New Zealand, Lower Hutt Central and Woburn. Despite being signposted as Hutt Central, the official NZ Geographic Board name for this station is still Waterloo.The station is located on the Hutt Valley section of the Wairarapa Line, 15.5 km (9.6 mi) north of Wellington, and is served by Tranz Metro on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Trains stopping at Waterloo run to Wellington, Taita, Upper Hutt and Masterton. Waterloo serves as a major bus-rail interchange, connecting buses from central Lower Hutt and Wainuiomata with trains to and from Wellington.
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History
Two major reasons were the impetus for the construction of the Hutt Valley Branch between Petone and Waterloo: first, the Petone Workshops had reached the end of their useful life; second, with increasing traffic demands on the line between Petone and Haywards and the lack of room to double-track the line on its existing route meant a new main line had to be built. The line was surveyed between 1924 and 1925, with a short industrial branch leaving the Hutt Valley Branch at Woburn to serve the new Hutt Workshops. On 26 May 1927 the rails reached Waterloo, which was then in the middle of open fields. This station was the terminus of the Hutt Valley Branch line until an extension north to Naenae was opened in 1946. The station was opened with automatic, three-aspect colour light signals which had been standard since 1924.
It was always intended that Waterloo would one day serve a major population centre which, in the years following World War II and the population boom that ensued, was proved correct. Significant urban development of the Hutt Valley in the 1940s led to the decision in February 1946 to commence electrification in 1949 and to operate electric train between Waterloo and Wellington from August 1953. Until the connection of the Hutt Valley Branch to the Wairarapa Line and its opening as the new main line on 1 March 1954, Waterloo served only suburban passenger services, with Upper Hutt and Wairarapa trains continuing to use the old line between Haywards and Petone on the western side of the Hutt Valley.
In 1986, as a result of the Hutt Valley Transport Study, Waterloo was designated an interchange for bus and rail services in preference to Woburn, which had previously had this role. It was felt that Waterloo was a more logical choice as it was closer to centres of residential and commercial interest, had sufficient room for bus platforms to be installed, and was not burdened with other operational requirements such as Woburn being the junction with the Gracefield Branch, with its loops and sidings. The new interchange facility at Waterloo was opened on 26 November 1988, and fully integrated with all the new public transport routes and timetables by the following March.
Rail
Tranz Metro, on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, operates Hutt Valley Line electric suburban services between Wellington and Upper Hutt via Waterloo. It also operates the Wairarapa Connection diesel-hauled service between Wellington and Masterton via Waterloo. The basic daytime off-peak timetable is:
The basic morning peak timetable is:
Bus
The following Metlink bus routes pass through or terminate at Waterloo: