Riding the Wellington Peak Time Trains

in General by Jon C — November 26, 2009 at 5:02 pm | 8 comments

I’m blogging from the Wellington trains during the afternoon / afterwork rush  - and so enjoying this beautiful well-ordered city.

As I noted this morning,Wellington, like Auckland, is suffering a rail service that has been decades in neglect but big improvements are on the way including new trains and track improvements.

Like Auckland, passengers are having to go through a bit of pain to get there (services are running up to 15 minutes late on the Paraparaumu line due to rail maintenance - nothing compared to what we get sometimes.)

The Wellington trains are fast and give a taste of what a good system electric trains are but they are old and look it. But one point: the windows are so incredibly dirty, I can’t even make out what stop we are at as I type this.

Improvements to eight suburban stations are being made as part of the $500m improvements.

So many of these issues are the same that Auckland has faced  - such as small stations with inadequate seating and  completely inadequate shelter from the wind and rain which Wellington apparently gets (you can’t imagine that on a beautiful day)   -especially those stations perched on hillsides.

Take this stop we’ve just come to at Johnsonville. It’s the end of the line, part of a busy little township and the shelter is like one of Auckland’s tired old ancient stations that are being revamped.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Johnsonville could get a Kingsland-type makeover.

Like Auckland’s situation, the staff  are trying hard to be as pleasant as possible under the trying working conditions. Passengers have stories about the breakdowns over winter and how they were dumped on freezing platforms and given absolutely no information whatsoever about what was happening.

Kiwirail has now promised better information on platforms but looking at the platforms, it’s hard to see how this information could be conveyed which is probably why Kiwirail talks of at least better website info which is not much help if you don’t have the technology while waiting. (This is an issue we face in Auckland as well ) .Kiwirail promises ongoing improvements.

At Wellington’s main station, the information board’s are on each platform (above) but not a  complete list. A rather beautifully spoken BBC-type announcer was making regular announcements there. Staff at the ticket office were very polite and cracked a dry joke. There’s a New World supermarket at the main station, which is helpful and easier than our Foodtown which is a walk from Britomart.

I noticed in Wellington, a man wearing cyclist headgear get on but not have his bike with him.

This sign explains it. Notice the big step you have to take to get off the train.

I am especially curious to see how much wiring there is after the recent debate here following publication of Kiwirail’s images of what our (more modern wired) electrification landscape might look like. New wiring is also happening in Wellington so, as reader Hugh pointed out earlier, I have no idea what’s new and what’s old. Anyway here’s how it looks out the window at the moment.

OK, I have to get off so will upload this now. With the 48 new two car units arriving from mid-next year, and all the other upgrades, Wellington won’t know itself.

How amazing it will be to have modern train services operating in both Auckland and Wellington.

Incidentally when a guard asked me why I was getting off and then planning to get back on again for a return journey. I told her  I was from Auckland and we’re getting electric trains soon so I had come down to check out Wellington’s trains.
She asked with a puzzled frown: “What do you mean you’re getting electric? How do your trains run now?”
She obviously has always lived in Wellington where the only trains you know are electric. What do I tell her? Our trains are pulled by horse and cart?!! I was lost for an answer.

Tags: Wellington