No funding for bridge could spell the end for the Melling line

Saturday, 7 September 2024

An artist’s impression of the Melling Interchange, without the second bridge to the south.

Hutt City mayor Campbell Barry is asking for an urgent meeting with Transport Minister Simeon Brown over the future of the Melling train line.

The Melling Line is facing an uncertain future after funding for a key piece of infrastructure was not included in the $32.9 billion National Land Transport Programme, which included $3.2b for Wellington ‒ a pedestrian bridge over Te Awa Kairangi/Hutt River.

The pedestrian bridge has always been a core part of RiverLink, which includes the Melling interchange. To build the interchange on State Highway 2, the Melling Station has to be relocated south.

Both Hutt City and Greater Wellington committed to the project on the basis that a pedestrian bridge would be built at the new station, connecting central Hutt to the station.

An earlier plan of the Melling Interchange and RiverLink in April 2022 included the pedestrian bridge to central Lower Hutt.

The plan was that apartment dwellers in the city would have easy access to the station, via the bridge.

There were plans to increase services on the line, including weekend trains, once RiverLink was completed.

Greater Wellington chair Daran Ponter said without the bridge there was little point in keeping the line open.

“If the Government is not going to provide the funding for the bridge that is part of the project, then we would have to look seriously at the future of the line.”

He was not sure who had the authority to close a line but said it was an issue that needed to be looked at seriously.

Barry said he was disappointed by the National Land Transport Programme and its lack of support for public transport.

He agreed, however, with Ponter that without a bridge, there was no point in having a new station.

“I will be writing to the minister today asking for a meeting to discuss the importance of this.”

The council would also lobby Hutt South MP and Minister of Infrastructure, Chris Bishop, to support the bridge.

The Melling Station and line faces an uncertain future.

Bishop has been a long time supporter of RiverLink and Barry hoped he could find the money for it.

Without it, the station was “stranded”, cut off from central Hutt and the apartments the council hopes will be built.

Labour list MP Ginny Andersen said when RiverLink was first announced by Labour in 2020, it was always envisaged the station would be moved.

Having no bridge “undermines” the whole project and closing the line would disadvantage Western Hills commuters, who travel into Wellington to work.

She said the decision reflected the Government’s lack of commitment to public transport and she hoped Barry could get the minister to overturn the funding decision.

The Hutt City Council has been seeking clarification for sometime about the bridge and its funding, Barry said.

Earlier this year Barry wrote to Bishop urging him to make sure the bridge was included in funding for the interchange.

“The bridge is essential to the relocation of the station, without which we face increasing pressure on the Melling interchange and undermining the entire transport improvements for the area. The residential and commercial growth of Hutt City would be significantly compromised without the bridge, which is important for growth in the wider region.”

Barry said the council did not have the funds to build the bridge and if there was no Government funding it will not be built.

Closing the station would have implications beyond central Hutt and Western Hills residents. Local regional councillor Quentin Duthie has been lobbying to keep open the option of extending the line north, so it can one day connect with Manor Park and Upper Hutt. That would create a second line that would reduce the travel times of Wairarapa trains.

Although he would fight to keep Melling operating, he said Greater Wellington had limited resources and clearly faced some tough decisions over the future of public transport.

Bishop was approached for comment but was overseas. A spokesman for Brown said the minister could not comment on funding for the bridge as it was a New Zealand Land Transport Agency Waka Kotahi decision.