Kāpiti Line Adjusted Timetable

Changes to Kāpiti Line timetables over the coming days

From tomorrow morning (Thursday 6 June) changes need to be made to the Kāpiti Line train timetable, until track repairs can be undertaken this weekend.

KiwiRail General Manager Jon Knight says there was already a speed restriction on one track between Porirua and Paremata due to a damaged rail. Worsening coastal erosion near the tracks has now required it to be extended.

“Safety of passengers has to be the priority and to ensure that commuter trains can continue to run safely, as a precaution a longer 25km speed restriction is now in place on that section of line.

“Unfortunately, this has compounding effects on trains operating along the entire Kāpiti Line. To minimise this impact, Metlink is making some short-term changes to the Kāpiti Line timetable.

“On Sunday we will be able to get in and repair the damaged rail – which will reduce the 25kmh speed restriction from about 300 metres to a little over 100 metres. This is expected to allow trains to return to their normal timetable. 

“KiwiRail is in the middle of a $870 million upgrade of the Wellington metro network and Wairarapa Line, to improve service reliability and enable more frequent trains. 

“There are still day-to-day issues to manage and resolving the erosion north of Porirua will take time to fix. Working in a coastal setting is challenging and we want to ensure that any repairs are made with minimal impact on the marine environment. We’re working through the consenting process with the respective authorities.”

Metlink group manager Samantha Gain says that, starting on Thursday morning, Kāpiti Line trains will run with delays of around five to ten minutes following the longer speed restriction being imposed between Porirua and Paremata.

“In a situation like this the compounding delays do impact the usual timetable, and we want to keep as many trains running as possible. So, we will be adjusting the timetable by cancelling five morning peak Porirua to Wellington services from Thursday. The majority of services will continue running and we’re taking other steps to ensure capacity,” Ms Gain says.

“We’re hoping to be able to return to a normal schedule early next week. We acknowledge this disruption is frustrating and we’ll keep affected travellers up to date on service changes as work progresses. 

“Platform and on-train announcements will play from Thursday morning to inform customers.

18 services normally run on the Kāpiti Line during the morning peak, which will be reduced by five under the adjusted timetable. 

An additional morning peak train from Plimmerton, departing at 07:55 will stop at all stations south of Porirua during the works to support capacity and avoid causing delays on other train lines. 

Three morning Waikanae services which were previously express, will become all stops to Wellington and selected services have been increased to eight carriages.

The run time of afternoon peak services will also change.