Melling railway station

Melling
Metlink suburban rail
Location Pharazyn Street, Melling, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Coordinates 41°12′13.12″S 174°54′18.94″E / 41.2036444°S 174.9052611°E / -41.2036444; 174.9052611
Owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council
Line(s) Melling Branch
Platforms Island
Tracks 1
Connections Bus services
Construction
Parking Yes
Other information
Fare zone 4
History
Opened 26 May 1908
Rebuilt 1 March 1954
Electrified 1 March 1954
Previous names Melling Settlement
Services
  KiwiRail  
Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station
Terminus
Melling Line
toward Wellington

Melling railway station is the terminal station on the single track Melling Line in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. The single platform station serves the suburb of Melling. The station is served by Metlink's electric multiple unit trains.

History

The station used to be on the Hutt Valley Line section of the Wairarapa Line until 1 March 1954, when the Melling-Belmont section of the line on the western side of the Hutt Valley was closed and the through line to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa rerouted through the centre of the valley. The truncated line to Melling was then electrified. The new station erected at the same time was about 100m closer to Wellington to avoid a level crossing at the Melling Link Road over the Hutt River.

In the 19th century, the line from Wellington to the Hutt was opened on 14 April 1874. The line past Melling to Silverstream was opened on December 1875.

The original Melling station opened on 26 May 1908. Melling was one of several stations and sidings opened in 1908 on the Hutt Valley section of line, along with Gosse and Co’s Siding, Pitcaithly's railway station, the Belmont Quarry Co’s Siding (not to be confused with the Belmont railway station), and the Silverstream Bridge railway station.[1]

End of the line

The station building today contains a ticket office and a coffee shop.[2] The building was closed without notice on 18 December 2013 for asbestos removal,[3] reopening on 18 February 2014.

Future

The Melling Station will be moved under the three 2018 NZTA options for replacing the Melling road bridge.[4]

Incidents

Since the introduction of the Matangi EMUs in 2010, two have crashed into the stop block at the north end of the platform. In the first incident, on 15 April 2013, nine passengers and 2 crew were aboard the 7.50am train that hit the stop block in a low-speed collision.[5] No serious injuries were reported and the line reopened the same day.[6]

A year later on 27 May 2014 the 8:09am train crashed into and mounted the stop block. Ten passengers were aboard with one receiving minor injuries and another hospitalised for shock.[7] Services resumed two days later.[8][9]

Services

The following Metlink bus routes serve Melling station:

Previous Stop Metlink Bus Services Next Stop
High Street
towards Queensgate		 145
Belmont		 Grounsell Crescent
towards Belmont

References

  1. ↑ Hoy, D.G. Rails out of the Capital (NZRLS, 1970) pp. 13,63,80
  2. ↑ EDWARDS, SIMON (24 May 2011). "Local has plans for coffee and tickets kiosk at the end of the line". Hutt News. Lower Hutt: Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Asbestos found in train station". The Dominion Post. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Melling interchange designs for Hutt Valley choke point". Stuff (Fairfax). 7 May 2018.
  5. ↑ EDWARDS, SIMON (15 April 2013). "Train hits barrier". Hutt News. Lower Hutt: Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Melling Line reopened after train crashes". The Dominion Post. Wellington: Fairfax New Zealand. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Train crashes beyond end of the line". The Dominion Post. Wellington: Fairfax New Zealand. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  8. ↑ DONOGHUE, TIM; EASTON, PAUL (28 May 2014). "'I've got no brakes, brace yourselves!'". The Dominion Post. Wellington: Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  9. ↑ HUNT, TOM (29 May 2014). "Melling line back to normal today". The Dominion Post. Wellington: Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 31 May 2014.



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