Trentham railway station, Upper Hutt

Trentham Railway Station is an urban railway station in Trentham, a suburb of the city of Upper Hutt in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. It is on the Hutt Valley Line section of the Wairarapa Line and has two side platforms. The station is served by Metlink's electric multiple unit trains of the "Matangi" FP class.

Trentham
Metlink suburban rail
LocationArarino Street, Trentham, Upper Hutt, New Zealand
Coordinates41°08′16″S 175°02′19″E
Owned byGreater Wellington Regional Council
Line(s)Wairarapa Line
PlatformsDual, side
TracksMain line (2)
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
Other information
Station codeTREN (Metlink)
TRM (KiwiRail Network)
Fare zoneBoundary of 6 & 7[1]
History
Opened8 January 1907
Services
  KiwiRail  
Preceding station   Tranz Metro   Following station
toward Upper Hutt
Hutt Valley Line
toward Wellington
Trentham station layout
to Wallaceville
crossover 7 (ex 13)
Main platform
Racecourse platform
crossover 3 (ex 19)
crossover 1 (ex 18)
Sutherland Avenue (CTC limit)
to Heretaunga

The double-tracking of the Wairarapa Line ends just north of Trentham station, with the line becoming single track as it continues north. However, in normal operation, southbound trains use the Ararino Street (western) platform and switch over to the down line south of the station. The Racecourse Road (eastern) platform is only used during race days and for other special occasions that occur at the adjacent Trentham Racecourse.

As part of the 2020-2021 Wellington Metro Rail Upgrade and double tracking to Upper Hutt the low platforms will be raised and the east "racecourse side" platform will be replaced with one further west to increase clearance between the two main lines. It will be accessed by a new subway, and have a new station building similar to the Redwood station building.[2] In 2010 the 2010 – 2035 Regional Rail Plan (RRP) had proposed duplicating the track between Trentham and Upper Hutt in the 2011 – 2012 year.[3]

Metlink tickets can be purchased from the Racecourse Dairy, opposite the railway station.

History

The station was opened on 8 January 1907.[4][5] It was initially a single track station with a loop containing the racecourse platform, which served the recently opened Trentham Racecourse. Double track reached Trentham in June 1955, with electrification following in September.

Trentham was originally controlled from its own signal box on the main platform. Following double-tracking of the line to Trentham, the southern crossover points (number 18, now 1) and the associated signals protecting the crossover and the single line north could be controlled from the signal box at Upper Hutt, requiring the Trentham signal box only to be used on race days to operate the other crossovers and signals. On 6 February 2007, the Trentham and Upper Hutt signal boxes were decommissioned and control of both stations was moved to Train Control in central Wellington, and all crossovers and signals were renumbered.[6]

There was a set of sidings in the Trentham Army Camp from 1941 to 1954, used for freight and for troop trains, with a shunting locomotive owned by the Army. Most of the track were removed in the 1970s. The siding was 0.53 km from Trentham Railway Station and 0.63 km from Heretaunga Railway Station.[7]

Accidents

On Saturday 22 March 1997, an evening northbound unit approaching Trentham passed the up home (29) signal at danger, which caused the alarms on the Sutherland Avenue level crossing immediately after the signal to only activate at the last second. The train hit a car on the level crossing, severely damaging the car but only causing minor injuries. While it is normal for a level crossing immediately after a signal to not activate if the signal is at danger to prevent needlessly delaying road traffic, the Sutherland Avenue crossing was the only level crossing in New Zealand that was approach-controlled, meaning the up home signal would be held at danger until the barrier arms were down. For an off-peak service when there was usually no conflicting traffic on the single line from Trentham to Upper Hutt, it was normal for the up home signal to change to clear once the barrier arms were down. However, the signalman at Upper Hutt had been distracted sorting out a drunken altercation at that station and had forgotten to clear the signal once the last southbound train had cleared Trentham, and the train driver was in the mindset the signal should clear as he approached the level crossing, not realising his mistake until he passed the signal. The approach controlled function was subsequently removed after the accident.[8]

Services

Trentham Railway Station serves the following Metlink bus services:

Previous timetabled stop Metlink Bus Services Next timetabled stop
Terminus 114
Poets Block		 Upper Hutt College
towards Upper Hutt Station
Silverstream Station
towards Pinehaven		 115
Pinehaven		 Upper Hutt Station
Terminus

In 2016 the provision of 40 additional parking places was announced at a cost of $200,000; an increase from 94 to 134 places.[9]

Work on upgrading the station in 2020 for the double-tracking of the line to Upper Hutt started with a ceremony in December 2019. The upgrading includes a second platform accessed by an underpass. [10] [11]

gollark: I think it's where they take your stuff *out* of hatcheries.
gollark: If you influence then hatch an egg, the hatchling will keep the influence upon teleportation.If you influence an egg and teleport it back, the influence will be lost.
gollark: As a hatchling, yes; as an egg, no.
gollark: It's probably good for getting UVs, given that modern autorefreshers can do quite a lot of views a second (4 on mine) anyway.
gollark: I mean, if you can get the same amount of views in 1m instead of 2m it could allow for shorter experiments. Do those work better? We need to empirically study NDs.

References
  1. Metlink. "Text description of fare zone boundaries". Greater Wellington Regional Council. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010.
  2. "Wellington Rail Upgrades". The New Zealand Railway Observer. 76 No 6 (359): 251-252. February–March 2020.
  3. "Regional Rail Plan" (PDF). Greater Wellington Regional Council. November 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  4. Scoble, Juliet (2012). Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand, 1863 to 2012. Wellington.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    • Hoy, D G (1970). Rails out of the Capital. Wellington: New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. p. 93.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  6. "Trentham History". Valley Signals. 21 December 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  7. Parsons, David (2010). Wellington’s Railway: Colonial Steam to Matangi. Wellington: New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society. pp. 110, 143, 194. ISBN 978-0-908573-88-2.
  8. "Investigation 97-103 -- Electic [sic] Multiple Unit 3656, collision with motor vehicle, Trentham, 22 March 1997". Transport Accident Investigation Commission. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  9. "Upper Hutt rail commuters get an easy ride with free car parks". Stuff (Fairfax). 28 June 2016.
  10. ""Priority Area – Public transport" in Staying on Track: Key work programme for 2019/20". Greater Wellington Regional Council. p. 5. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  11. "Station ceremony marks next stage in rail network pgrade". GWRC. 9 December 2019.
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