Ava railway station

Ava
Metlink suburban rail
Location North Street, Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Coordinates 41°13′10.52″S 174°53′30.06″E / 41.2195889°S 174.8916833°E / -41.2195889; 174.8916833
Owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council
Line(s) Wairarapa Line
Platforms Island
Tracks Main line (2)
Construction
Parking Yes
Other information
Station code AVA
Fare zone 4
History
Opened 27 May 1927
Rebuilt ?
Electrified 14 September 1953
Services
  ONTRACK  
Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station
toward Upper Hutt
Hutt Valley Line
toward Wellington

Ava railway station is a suburban railway station serving parts of Petone, Alicetown and Ava in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The station is located on the Hutt Valley section of the Wairarapa Line, 12.5 km (7.8 mi) north of Wellington, and is served by Tranz Metro on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Trains stopping at Ava run to Wellington, Taita and Upper Hutt.

The station has an island platform between double tracks with a pedestrian overbridge at each end of the platform, connecting the station with Wakefield Street and Alicetown to the north, and North Street and Petone to the south. The over bridge at the western end is currently out of use due to earthquake damage. It is expected to reopen in March 2018/

History

The station was one of the three new stations on the then Hutt Valley Branch, opened on 26 May 1927. From 1 March 1954 with the closing of the Melling to Haywards section, this route became the main route to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa. Ava initially had sidings, which have been removed long ago (Hoy).[1]

On the night of 8 December 2014, a northbound "Matangi" FP/FT unit 4397 hit a downed traction pole at the station, and became entangled in the overhead lines. No passengers or crew were injured, but the unit suffered frontal damage from the impact with the pole. Electric train services between Taita and Petone were cancelled the following day while three traction poles and 150 metres of overhead line were repaired.[2]

The western access ramp was found to require strengthening work in February 2016, and was later damaged in the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake on 14 November. Due to safety risks, the ramp over the railway was removed during the weekend of 17-18 December. The station is presently not wheelchair accessible as the eastern access ramp has stairs, but GWRC expects the western ramp will be replaced "within a year".[3]

Services

Transdev Wellington, on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, operates Hutt Valley Line electric suburban services between Wellington and Upper Hutt via Ava. The basic daytime off-peak timetable is:

  • 2 trains per hour (tph) to Wellington, stopping all stations.
  • 2 tph to Upper Hutt, stopping all stations.

No Metlink bus routes connect to Ava Station directly, although routes 83, 91 and 110 pass close by closely:

References

  1. ↑ Hoy, D.G. Rails out of the Capital (NZRLS, 1970) pp. 53,54
  2. ↑ Hunt, Tom (9 December 2014). "Power pole in train's path". Wellington: The Dominion Post. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3. ↑ "Ava Station loses pedestrian ramp access". Stuff (Fairfax Media). 13 December 2016.



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