Public transport in Wellington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Public transport in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is well developed compared to other parts of the country. The system covers Wellington city, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, the Kapiti Coast and the Wairarapa, which together form the Greater Wellington region.
Public transport in Wellington consists of buses, trolleybuses, trains, ferries, and a funicular (the Wellington Cable Car). Historically, it also included trams. For the most part, transport services are privately owned, although much of the infrastructure is owned by public bodies, and public transport is often subsidised. The body responsible for planning and subsidising public transport in Wellington is the Greater Wellington Regional Council. The region's transport services are collected together under the name Metlink. According to the Regional Council, around 30 million passenger trips are made by public transport in Wellington each year.
Wellington's hilly terrain has a considerable effect on Wellington's 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.
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[edit] Buses
Wellington has an extensive network of bus routes. Routes are determined by the Regional Council, which regulates commercially provided services, and solicits bids from private operators to run the services that are not commercially provided that it is prepared to subsidise. The largest operator is Stagecoach New Zealand, which provides services for most of Wellington city. Stagecoach also owns Cityline and Runciman Motors, which provide services in the Hutt Valley. In Porirua and the Kapiti Coast most services are provided by Mana Coach Services, which also owns Newlands Coach Services, serving the northern suburbs of Wellington city - Newlands, Johnsonville, Churton Park, Paparangi and Grenada North.
The majority of buses in the Wellington area are powered by diesel, but Stagecoach New Zealand has 65 trolleybuses that it operates within Wellington city. The trolleybus system was introduced as a replacement for Wellington's trams (see below).
[edit] Trains
Wellington and Auckland are the only two cities in New Zealand to have a passenger rail service. Wellington's rail network is used primarily by commuters travelling to and from the central city — all lines converge on Wellington Railway Station.
There are two major rail corridors in Wellington. One, the southern end of the North Island Main Trunk, runs along the western coastline, passing through Porirua to Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast. The other, the southern end of the Wairarapa Line, runs along the edge of Wellington Harbour and then up the Hutt Valley, passing through both Lower and Upper Hutt. Less frequent services continue on through the rural Wairarapa, stopping at a number of small towns before terminating in Masterton. Branch lines go to Johnsonville (in the north of Wellington city) and Melling (on the western side of the Hutt River). The two main lines are mostly double track, while the continuation of the Wairarapa Line and the two branches are single track.
Wellington is connected via long-distance passenger trains to Palmerston North (the Capital Connection commuter train) and Auckland (The Overlander). These services are not part of the Wellington transport system.
Most Wellington trains are electric, with Wellington being the only city in the country to have electric passenger trains. These trains are EMUs, arranged in configurations of two to eight cars. Ganz Mavag units, the majority of cars, are 20-25 years old, and were extensively refurbished in the late 1990s. The 70-year-old older English Electric units operate primarily to Johnsonville, Melling and Taita. These units are currently undergoing a minor refurbishment to extend their operational life through to 2010. On 22 September 2006 the Regional Council announced [1] that it would begin the tender process for 29 new electric multiple units (reported as 58 "electric carriages"), to replace the English Electric EMUs by 2010. Trains to the Wairarapa are hauled by diesel locomotives.
There are 48 stations in the Wellington rail network. Of these, the busiest by far is Wellington, 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.
Passenger trains are operated by Tranz Metro, a division of Toll Rail. The infrastructure is owned by ONTRACK, an agency of the New Zealand government. The Regional Council estimates that around 800,000 train trips are made each month.
See also: List of Wellington railway stations
[edit] Ferries
Although Wellington has a good natural harbour, only the western and northern shores are heavily populated, and the trip between these population centres is often almost as quick along the coast as it is by water. This means that demand for ferries has traditionally been lower than might otherwise be expected. Nevertheless, two passenger ferry routes are operated by East by West, a privately-owned company. One route runs daily between central Wellington and Days Bay on the harbour's eastern coast, near Eastbourne. The other, the Harbour Explorer Excursion (weekends only), also serves Petone and Seatoun. Some services also call at Matiu/Somes Island, a nature reserve.
There are also larger road and rail ferries linking Wellington to the South Island, crossing Cook Strait. These ferries are not part of Wellington's local public transport system, but as the Interislander, the largest ferry operator, is owned by the Toll, the railway operator, they are interlinked.
[edit] Cable Car
Main article: Wellington Cable Car.
The Wellington Cable Car, which runs between the central city and the hill suburb of Kelburn, is something of a Wellington icon. It is used by commuters travelling to and from work, by people travelling from the city to the Wellington Botanic Garden, and by students at Victoria University.
Despite its name, the Wellington Cable Car is a funicular, having two counter-balanced cars permanently attached to each other by a cable, rather than a true cable car, gripping and releasing the cable as needed. The cable runs through a pulley at the top of the hill, driven by an electric motor. Originally the Cable Car was a hybrid between a true cable car and a funicular, and retained its name when it was converted to a full funicular.
The Wellington Cable Car is owned by the Wellington City Council, through a Council-owned company. It is operated by Transfield Services (a private company) on a contractual basis. Unlike other public transport in Wellington, it runs without a subsidy.
[edit] Trams (historic)
Main article: Wellington tramway system.
Between 1878 and 1964, the city of Wellington operated trams. The tramways extended throughout the western and southern areas of Wellington city, with the northern areas being served by trains. All tram services have been replaced by buses or trolleybuses, although occasional calls are made for some form of light rail to be reintroduced.
