Public transport in the Wellington Region, branded under the name Metlink, is the public transport system serving Wellington and its surrounding region. It is the most used public transport system in New Zealand per capita, and consists of electric and diesel buses, suburban trains, ferries and a funicular (the Wellington Cable Car). It also included trams until 1964, and trolleybuses until 2017.
Buses and ferries are privately owned, with the infrastructure owned by public bodies, and public transport is often subsidised. The Greater Wellington Regional Council is responsible for planning and subsidising public transport, and pays around $30 million for bus and train services each year. The system covers Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, the Kāpiti Coast and the Wairarapa.
System Extent The Regional Council's Regional Public Transport Plan notes that Wellington had in 2019: a rail network with around 83 multi-units and 24 carriages, which serve 48 stations. a bus network with 457 buses serving 3,179 stops on around 232 routes. two harbour ferries. a five-station funicular, the Cable Car. GIS information indicates that 77% of the region's population lives within 800 metres of public transport stop with a 30-minute frequency or better.
Wellington's hilly terrain has a considerable effect on 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.
Usage According to Metlink, over 40 million passenger trips were made by public transport in Wellington in 2018/2019, and this number has been growing in recent years. The Wellington Region has the highest per capita use of public transport in New Zealand,Greater Wellington Regional Council 10-Year Plan 2009-19 - Key Issues with trips per capita in the year ending September 2019.
Of the approximately 37.33 million trips, around 24.33 million are made by bus, 12.80 million by train, and 0.18 million by ferry.
Year Bus Ferry Rail Total patronage 2001/02 19,795,687 114,163 10,163,061 30,072,911 2002/03 20,711,898 117,027 10,010,448 30,839,373 2003/04 21,338,606 127,110 9,953,408 31,419,124 2004/05 21,902,604 137,844 10,253,811 32,294,259 2005/06 23,487,552 155,799 11,097,423 34,740,774 2006/07 22,794,990 156,718 11,175,993 34,127,701 2007/08 22,964,384 177,128 11,552,453 34,693,965 2008/09 23,381,247 179,981 11,875,820 35,437,048 2009/10 23,647,840 182,034 11,133,677 34,963,551 2010/11 24,026,904 176,581 11,202,227 35,405,712 2011/12 24,111,291 176,698 11,274,141 35,562,130 2012/13 23,607,936 192,549 11,355,403 35,155,888 2013/14 23,981,194 180,155 11,643,292 35,804,641 2014/15 24,098,765 179,106 12,128,995 36,406,866 2015/16 24,331,408 197,889 12,801,182 37,330,479 2016/17 24,437,473 195,751 13,121,525 37,754,749 2017/18 24,716,617 204,209 13,552,866 38,473,692 2018/19 24,746,993 202,201 14,323,878 39,273,072 2019/2021,335,320165,38211,489,11032,989,8122020/2121,670,682167,64811,270,83733,109,1672021/2217,654,506137,4248,133,99925,925,9292022/2322,272,833194,66110,711,68833,179,182
Patronage data from the 2018/19 year is not directly comparable with previous years, particularly for bus services, due to changes in the reporting method for statistics related to the implementation of new bus contracts in the region. Details may be found in the cited spreadsheet.
COVID-19 affected statistics for all modes from late March 2020
Ticketing Snapper cards pay for most services under Metlink, excluding ferries; and has been used on bus services since 2009; for trains, it was first introduced on the Johnsonville Line in 2021; and on the Hutt Valley Line, Kāpiti Line, Melling Branch and the Wairarapa Connection in November 2022. Tickets for single bus and train rides can still be purchased on board using cash.
Snapper cards are being replaced by the National Ticketing Solution, branded as Motu Move. This is expected to occur in 2026 for the Wellington Region.
Modes Buses
Wellington has an extensive network of bus routes. The routes are determined by the Regional Council, which regulates commercially provided services and solicits bids from private operators to run the services it is prepared to subsidise.
From July 2018, the largest operator is Tranzit Group, which provides services for most of Wellington City, the Hutt Valley, and the Wairarapa under the Tranzurban brand. In Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast most services are provided by Uzabus. Other bus providers in the region include Mana Coach Services (owner of Newlands Coach Services) which provides services in the northern suburbs and Tawa, and NZ Bus which provides services from Eastbourne and the east-west spine between Karori and Miramar. Prior to July 2018, the largest operator was NZ Bus, which provided services for most of Wellington City under the GOWellington brand and for the Hutt Valley under the Valley Flyer and Runciman Motors brands. In Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast most services were provided by Mana Coach Services.
The majority of buses in the Wellington area are powered by diesel, but GOWellington previously also had 60 trolleybuses that it operated within Wellington city. The trolleybus network was introduced between 1949 and 1964 to replace Wellington's trams (see below) and closed down in October 2017. From July 2018, Tranzit will introduce electric buses progressively onto their routes; the Greater Wellington Regional Council has also voted to look into proposals to make both rapid transport spines, Johnsonville to Island Bay and Karori to Seatoun, fully electric by 2021 and 2023 respectively and make a core route in both the Hutt Valley and Porirua fully electric as electric buses are introduced. As of April 2024, Wellington has 103 electric buses in urban service, the second highest electric fleet in New Zealand after Auckland which has 133 electric buses. Since 2018, new diesel buses on Metlink routes are required to be at least Euro V standard.
All Metlink buses accept the contactless Snapper card. As of April 2011, Wellington buses report real time location information which is displayed on electronic signs in some Wellington bus stops and can be viewed online.
From 2019, bike racks have been fitted to most buses operated in Metlink branding.
Tawa has five on-demand minibuses operated by Mana for a year's trial from 16 May 2022. Metlink plan to introduce five bendy buses to Wellington in 2027 for use on route 2 to deal with overcrowding. If successful, 29 more will be ordered.
Trains
Transdev Wellington operates Metlink's five-line commuter network, which fans north out of Wellington railway station as far as Waikanae in the north and Masterton in the east. Transdev Wellington operates the service under contract to the Greater Wellington Regional Council with rolling stock (except for diesel locomotives used on the Wairarapa services) owned by the council, and rail infrastructure owned by KiwiRail. Until 2016 KiwiRail division Tranz Metro had the contract to operate Metlink's services.
Since July 2016, Wellington's commuter rail services have been operated by Transdev Wellington. Transdev subcontracts KiwiRail to provide and operate the diesel locomotives on the Wairarapa services. In the year ending 30 June 2017, 88.3% of rail services ran on time; this figure is lower than previous years, as timeliness is now measured directly by Metlink rather than relying on self-reporting by the operator, and is measured at all key stations rather than just Wellington Station.
There are two major rail corridors in Wellington. The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) runs along the western coastline, passing through Porirua and Paraparaumu to Waikanae on the Kāpiti Coast (known as the Kāpiti Line); the Wairarapa Line runs along the edge of Wellington Harbour and then up the Hutt Valley, passing through both Lower and Upper Hutt (known as the Hutt Valley Line). Less frequent services continue through the rural Wairarapa, stopping at a number of small towns before terminating at Masterton. There are also the Johnsonville Line in the north of Wellington and the Melling Line on the western side of Lower Hutt. The Kāpiti Line and Hutt Valley Line are mostly double track, except for a short stretch on the Kāpiti Line between Muri and Paekākāriki (the North–South Junction) and between the Waikanae River and Waikanae station. The Johnsonville line is single track with passing loops, while the Melling lines is single track throughout.
There are 49 stations in the rail network, all except Wellington railway station owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council. Wellington station is the busiest by far, 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.
Most trains are the FP class Matangi electric multiple units, in sets of two to eight cars, introduced from 2011. They displaced the older DM class English Electric units, the last of which were withdrawn from service in 2012, and the EM class Ganz Mavag units, the last of which were withdrawn from service in 2016. The Wairarapa line beyond Upper Hutt is not electrified, so the Wairarapa Connection trains to Masterton are diesel-hauled with SW and SE class carriages.
There are long-distance trains to Palmerston North (the Capital Connection commuter train) and Auckland (the Northern Explorer). These are not part of the Wellington transport system.
The Capital Connection and the Wairarapa Connection are to be operated by Alstom as part of the regional network from 2030.
History Electric suburban services began in July 1938, following the opening of the Tawa flat deviation of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT). The Johnsonville Line, the former route of the NIMT out of the capital, was the first line to be electrified. By 1940 the NIMT (the present Kāpiti Line) had been electrified as far north as Paekākāriki.
The Hutt Valley Line was electrified to Taitā in 1953 to coincide with major state housing developments in the area. In 1954, the Wairarapa railway line was diverted between Petone and Haywards via Waterloo and Taitā, with the old line truncated to Melling to form the Melling Line. Electrification was extended to Upper Hutt in 1955.
Also in 1955, the 9 km Rimutaka Tunnel between Upper Hutt and Featherston opened, bypassing the laborious Rimutaka Incline and reducing the travel time from Wellington to Featherston to just over one hour, and from Wellington to Masterton to one-and-three-quarter hours. The Wairarapa Connection service started nine years later, after morning and afternoon peak services started to exceed the 176-seat capacity of the diesel railcars (twin NZR RM class) then used.
Electrification was extended to Paraparaumu in 1982, and to Waikanae in February 2011 to coincide with the arrival of the new Matangi electric multiple units. The (diesel-hauled) Capital Connection to Palmerston North also operates on this route.
In April 2023 the Wellington rail network faced "weeks" of delays because of 70 kph speed limits on all lines after rail evaluations by the "broken" track evaluation car had not been scheduled for May 2023, although the period was subsequently reduced to the week of May 1 to 5. These safety checks are due every four months. NZR has one track evaluation car; which required an annual inspection. The "repairs" required were restricted to turning of wheels.
Patronage