Asbestos under control... time for an upgrade

Paraparaumu Railway Station being upgraded in 2011.
Picture from Better Transport.

Back in the day I used to regularly catch the train from Trentham to Petone and sometimes Waterloo. It's great to see how modern the system is now, thanks to upgrades to the network and some of the stations. It seems though that a few critical upgrades - to stations and trackwork - have yet to go ahead.


The Dom Post reports that Melling Railway Station has been cleared of asbestos. Parts of railway stations in Taita and Upper Hutt also tested positive for asbestos dust, but have been sealed off.

Since July 2011 the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) has had responsibility for the regions stations (except Wellington Railway Station, which is still owned by KiwiRail). GWRC also owns the rolling stock, while Tranz Metro runs the trains. As part of this acquisition a Regional Rail Plan was put together, which included some upgrades to stations and double-tracking the line from Trentham to Upper Hutt. This will mean more frequent rail commuter services can be run.

However it seems that Taita and Upper Hutt stations have missed out, and the double-tracking has yet to go ahead. Now that the asbestos issue has been resolved, it's time to get on with upgrading the stations.