Wainuiomata railway proposals
Multiple proposals have been made for a branch line railway to Wainuiomata as part of the Wellington commuter railway network. Despite strong local pressure at times during the 20th century, none of the proposals have come to fruition. There are currently (2021) no plans under consideration to build a rail line to Wainuiomata, although in 2021 a Christchurch-based property development company advertised townhouses in Wainuiomata as in "close proximity" to a non-existent Wainuiomata Train Station. Background Wainuiomata is in an isolated valley separated from Petone and Lower Hutt by the Eastern Hutt hills. In the 19th and early 20th centuries this isolation made communication difficult and a railway was desired to provide more efficient access to the outside world. As roads improved and car ownership rates rose during the 20th century, this function of a proposed railway declined, but at the same time the population of Wainuiomata increased and commuters to Wellington desired a railway line. However, the terrain is not favourable for a railway. A line into Wainuiomata would require either a steep route over the hills, resulting in a slow journey, or a lengthy and costly tunnel. This geography has been the main contributing factor to the rejection of all proposals so far. Proposals 1870 proposal The first proposal for a railway to Wainuiomata came as part of a route for the Wairarapa Line across the Rimutaka Range. Four routes were surveyed, including one through Wainuiomata. It was suggested by a Mr Sinclair, who farmed in the area and claimed he knew a route over the Rimutakas. The line surveyed by John Rochfort and his party ran from Kaitoke, at the northern end of the Hutt Valley, across the Eastern Hutt Hills into the valley of the Wainuiomata River, which it followed before crossing into the valley of the Ōrongorongo River. To leave the Ōrongorongo River and reach the Wairarapa, the line had to follow a tributary stream to a height of approximately 344.5 m (1130 feet), from which it faced a sudden and insurmountable drop to the Wairarapa. Accordingly, the proposal was given no further consideration. The circuitous nature of the route via Kaitoke meant an abbreviated form of this proposal was never subsequently considered for a line to Wainuiomata. 1920s proposal In order to enhance links between the Hutt Valley and the Wainuiomata Valley, then under development, and to cater for the needs of expected future residential development in the Wainuiomata Valley, a tunnel between the two valleys was proposed in 1928. On 2 July, an internal Railways Department memorandum noted of the proposal, made by the mayor of Lower Hutt in a recent meeting with the department: Preliminary negotiations with affected land owners were commenced in September. An agreement was entered into between the department and the development company on 1 October, which set out the terms of the project and made the following points: The development company would construct a two-lane road tunnel, 55 chains in length, between Gracefield Road and the Wainuiomata Valley.