More passengers on Lower Hutt buses thanks to RiverLink
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Buses in Lower Hutt are picking up more passengers as the RiverLink project’s construction ramps up, but their punctuality during rush hour is becoming patchy because of the disruption.
The $1.5 billion infrastructure project, led by the Government, local councils and mana whenua, is building a new State Highway 2 interchange at Melling. It will move Melling station 300 metres south, and build new flood defences and two new bridges crossing Te Awa Kairangi Hutt River.
Melling station closed late last year to make way for the new interchange, leaving Melling Line trains to terminate at Western Hutt station. Wellington’s public transport operator, Metlink, rerouted buses 145 and 149 for commuters in the western hill suburbs to change trains at Waterloo station instead.
Papers published ahead of the Greater Wellington Regional Council’s public transport committee meeting on Thursday said both routes picked up more passengers. Route 145’s average daily passenger numbers rose 37% from 93 to 130, while route 149’s numbers jumped by 72.7% from 55 to 95 passengers a day.
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“These increases indicate the people who previously used Park & Ride at Melling are instead taking the bus to Waterloo and catching the train from there.”
But the papers also said disruption to Lower Hutt roads from RiverLink construction was knocking on to rush-hour timetables as buses ran into congestion on SH2 and arterial roads. Their punctuality varied wildly, with some services on time one day but 40 minutes late the next day.
At one point an 83 bus heading from Wellington to Eastbourne via Lower Hutt’s city centre recorded a 50-minute delay during the evening rush, but all bus routes largely stuck to the schedule during off-peak hours.
The paper added that drivers were paid overtime if they had to work beyond their rostered hours because of the delays.
Regional councillor Quentin Duthie anticipated higher bus patronage and said he had “no doubt” the congestion affected buses’ punctuality.
Anecdotally, he noticed more people taking the bus, including more students taking the 145 and 149 buses to school, as the extended routes to Waterloo now stop at Naenae Intermediate and Naenae College.
“Buses are just like anyone in their private car getting stuck in queues of traffic and everyone in Lower Hutt is experiencing that, so it’s pretty hard for buses to avoid that,” he said. “It’s a good argument for more bus priority measures, either lanes or easier movement for buses.”
In terms of train patronage, Thursday’s meeting papers said although there had been no increases on the Wairarapa Line, there were more passengers on the Hutt Valley Line on weekdays compared with November 2025, bucking a trend of fewer people taking the train.
“Early evidence is that increased [Hutt Valley Line] patronage is due to ex-Melling commuters shifting to Waterloo station,” an analysis on the paper read.
The Hutt City Council and the Wellington Transport Analytics Unit – a transport modelling and analysis service set up by Wellington’s councils and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi – implemented a new system to monitor the impact of RiverLink construction, the paper added. They would report back again in October.
Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air