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1870 proposal

The first proposal for a railway to Wainuiomata came as part of a route for the Wairarapa Line across the Rimutaka Range. Four routes were surveyed, including one through Wainuiomata. It was suggested by a Mr Sinclair, who farmed in the area and claimed he knew a route over the Rimutakas. The line surveyed by John Rochfort and his party ran from Kaitoke, at the northern end of the Hutt Valley, across the East Hutt Hills into the valley of the Wainuiomata River, which it followed for a distance before crossing into the valley of the Orongorongo River. However, to leave the Orongorongo River and reach the Wairarapa, the line had to follow a tributary stream to a height of approximately 344.5 m (1130 feet), from which it faced a sudden and insurmountable drop to the Wairarapa. Accordingly, the proposal was given no further consideration.^[1] The circuitous nature of the route via Kaitoke meant an abbreviated form of this proposal was never considered in subsequent moves for a line from Wellington terminating in Wainuiomata.

1920s proposal

In order to enhance transport links between the Hutt Valley and the Wainuiomata Valley, then under development in the 1920s, and to cater for the needs of expected future residential development in the Wainuiomata Valley, a tunnel between the two valleys was proposed in 1928. On 2 July, an internal Railways Department memorandum noted of the proposal, made by the mayor of Lower Hutt in a recent meeting with the department, the following:^[2]

Preliminary negotiations with affected land owners along the route were commenced in September. An agreement was entered into between the department and the development company on 1 October which set out the terms of the project and made the following points:^[3]

• The development company would construct a two lane road tunnel, of 55 chains in length, between Gracefield Road and the Wainuiomata Valley.
• The Railways Department would be granted the exclusive right to operate motor or electrical services through the tunnel.
• The development company would reserve sufficient land in the Wainuiomata Valley for terminal purposes for any services operated by the Railways Department through the tunnel.
• The company was to reserve a strip of land along the new main road through the company’s subdivision for the possible future installation of an electrical tramway.
• The Railways Department would commence operating a bus service from the Wainuiomata Valley to Wellington, Lower Hutt and Petone via the tunnel once there was a permanent resident population in the Wainuiomata Valley of at least fifty families.
• The Railways Department would, when the amount of traffic was sufficient to justify it, construct at its own expense an electrical tramway from Gracefield Road to the Wainuiomata subdivision.

In early 1929, the Railways Department encountered difficulties in trying to arrange for the acquisition of some of the land required for the route from a land owner by the name of Morley & Co. Mr. C. Morley had purchased the land in question while visiting New Zealand in 1927, and with a specific purpose for the land in mind, was unwilling to exchange the land sought by the department or be compensated for it. On being notified by the department that they intended to indefinitely postpone negotiations for the purchase of the affected land, Morley thanked them by letter on 23 May 1929 for their candour and advised that he intended to proceed with his intentions for the land.^[4]

Though planning work for another facet of the project – the widening of Park Road – continued for several months, it appears that by the following year work on the project had ceased.

1950s developments

A missive from the District Engineers Office in 1952 concerning the industrial development at Seaview also covered the possible future transport needs of the Wainuiomata Valley, which at the time had not long been under development as a residential and industrial area.

The District Engineer made the point that the floor of the Wainuiomata Valley was some 300 ft higher than that of the Hutt Valley, and he thus considered that it would be improbable for Wainuiomata to ever have a rail link. However, he did consider that the expected completion of the partially finished road tunnel then under construction would make for much easier road access into Wainuiomata. As the Hutt Valley portal of the tunnel was near the Gracefield Station (off the end of Tunnel Grove), it would be prudent to consider the possibility of the increased importance of the Hutt Valley Industrial Line to serve Wainuiomata.^[5]

To this end, he suggested various works and railways facilities that would be required to handle this traffic, including:

• Road overbridges for Park Road and Seaview Road, both of which were expected to become arterial thoroughfares.
• Relocation of the branch line to facilitate the construction of the Seaview Road overbridge.
• Installation of passenger platforms at Gracefield Station and related facilities.
• Provision of a marshalling yard, local sidings, goods shed, heavy crane, and other freight handling facilities for Gracefield Station.
• A straight shunting leg southward from the Gracefield Station yard with parallel track or tracks for passenger traffic.

1963 report

Residential development of the Wainuiomata Valley had only been happening for about a decade when, in 1963, the New Zealand Geological Survey prepared a report for the Wellington City Council on options for a Wainuiomata rail link for consideration for a regional plan for Greater Wellington. There was no expectation at the time that road transport would be able to adequately serve the public transport needs of Wainuiomata, thus a rail link was considered to be a very real possibility.^[6]

Selecting a route for such a line was complicated somewhat by various considerations that had to be taken into account. The maximum permissible grade for a freight carrying railway was about 1:40, which limited options for taking a line over the hills surrounding the valley. Such a line would have almost certainly required heavy earthworks and/or one or more short tunnels. Also, as the floor of the Wainuiomata Valley is some 350 ft higher than that of the Hutt Valley, routes involving a tunnel through the hills were also limited. Both Woburn and Waterloo stations were rejected as possible junctions with such a branch line, as they were considered to be too far from the hills.

The first route to be considered was a branch line originating at Epuni Station, climbing the side of the hills in the Hutt Valley, and passing through a tunnel near the present hill road before dropping into the Wainuiomata Valley. The ruling grade on this route would have been about 1:60, and would possibly have required a second short tunnel to pass through a spur. Negative points for this option included the fact that it would have to pass through an appreciable amount of developed land, and a requirement for heavy earthworks.

The second, and more favourable route, would have started at Naenae Station, passed Taita Cemetery, around the head of Rata Street, through a spur by cutting or tunnel, then through the main tunnel at the head of Seddon Street. The ruling grade would have been about 1:45, but could have been reduced with more earthworks. Positive points for this option included the fact that it would have passed through less developed land, and would have had the secondary benefit of serving the industrial areas of Naenae and Taita.

1975 report

On 4 August 1975, the Wainuiomata County Borough Council wrote to the Minister of Railways requesting that a feasibility study into a possible Waiuiomata – Hutt Valley rail link be conducted. Citing population growth in the Wainuiomata Valley and increasing traffic volumes, they proposed a rail line from the Hutt Industrial Branch (Gracefield Branch) to The Strand in Wainuiomata.^[7]

Such a line would be approximately 3 kilometres in length, on a gradient of 1:40, and almost entirely in a tunnel. It was expected that such a service would result in significant fuel savings by transferring passenger journeys that would have used road transport to rail, and would also reduce journey times for commuters between Wainuiomata and Wellington to no more than 30 minutes by avoiding traffic congestion.

Railways Department Projects Engineer R. S. Ryan produced a preliminary study on the proposal on 11 August which included estimates and more detail on issues such as expected patronage, service requirements, facilities, route, cost, and revenue. The report, using work already done on the Auckland Rapid Transit project, assumed that six 3 car electric multiple unit sets, with 300 passengers per set, would be required to meet peak hour demand. In order to operate services at 15 minute intervals, some trains would consist of six cars, while others would only have three. To minimise the need to transfer passengers between services, trains from Wainuiomata would run through to Wellington, connecting with Wairarapa trains at Ava and Petone.^[8]

Best Street and Bryan Heath Park were considered to be the most suitable sites for the terminus of the line, being in the vicinity of several important routes through the valley, with the possibility of a future extension of the line to Moores Valley Road. A new station in the suburb of Gracefield was also recommended for passengers needing to access industrial and residential areas there.

The route would involve the completion of the “triangle” at the Woburn end of the Gracefield Branch to give services from Wellington direct access to the branch line, eliminating the need for them to reverse from Woburn station. After crossing the Waiwhetu Stream and passing through Ministry of Works land between Hutt Park Road and Gracefield Road, the line would enter a tunnel at a grade of 1:40 and emerge at the terminus. This grade would need to be maintained for the entire distance between the Ministry of Works land and the Wainuiomata terminus to ensure that the gradient did not exceed 1:40.

In summary, the report concluded that the project, while possible, would include capital costs of $30m to $35m (approx. $235m to $275m in 2008 Q1), operational and other costs of $760,000 per year and net revenue of $175,000 per year.^[9]

The Chief Civil Engineer responded to the Wainuiomata Council on 14 August denying their request for the feasibility study, explaining that the department did not have sufficient resources, either financially or in personnel, to commit to the detailed feasibility study that would be required to determine the practicability of the proposal. Citing information from the preliminary report, he pointed out that at current fare levels such a service would run at a considerable loss, and he did not expect that it could be budgeted for within the next 10 years.^[10]

Following the rebuff from the Railways Department, the Council resolved at a meeting on 8 September to approach the Public Works Department with the same request for a feasibility study.^[11] Despite these efforts, no further work was undertaken on the proposal.