Wairarapa Line
Greater Wellington regional councillors, Metlink, and its rail operator Transdev Wellington understand the frustration caused by recent rail replacement services and delays on the Wairarapa Line, and we want to assure our passengers that we are committed to restoring the reliability of train services as soon as possible.
Passengers travelling on the following weekday bus replacement services will have their fare refunded to their Snapper card from 1 July, the regional council agreed today.
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3.38pm service departing Masterton,
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6:18pm service departing Wellington,
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8.40pm service departing Masterton (Friday only),
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10.25pm service departing Wellington (Friday only).
These services have been replaced by buses on a regular basis due to the shortage of qualified train managers to run Wairarapa Line services.
This temporary fare relief acknowledges frustration surrounding rail performance to and from the Wairarapa, and will be in effect until Transdev achieves a sufficient number of train managers to resume all rail services, expected September 2025.
Passengers will be charged as normal and will be required to tag on and off. Refunds will be processed weekly (every Monday) by Snapper for eligible trips taken in the previous week and will be credited to your Snapper card balance. The fare refunds also apply to customers travelling on a 30-day pass or a concession fare, which will be credited back to your Snapper card balance.
This page only shows planned buses replacing trains schedules.
During unplanned disruptions, bus service information will be included in the service alert. (external link)
Bus stop locations are listed at the bottom of this page.
Website train timetables do not show bus departure times.
Train timetables will highlight bus replaced trips in pink and the service times will be crossed out. This helps you know to check the bus replacement PDF timetable directly, instead of assuming it follows the regular train timetable. The bus replacement timetable is available below or on the train timetable page.
Bike racks on Metlink buses will be available to passengers by Tuesday 1 July 2025, once all buses requiring modification are compliant with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) industry alert. Learn more.
Calendar & Timetables for Wairarapa Line
Monthly calendar updated 1 November
Sometimes buses replace trains only on part of the line, even when all services are affected.
Detailed information below will note which stations are affected when only a portion of the line has bus replacements.
Monday 24 - Wednesday 26 November
Buses replace some daytime services between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Sunday 30 November
Buses replace all daytime services between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Saturday 6 December
Buses replace all services between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Sunday 7 December
Buses replace all daytime services between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Saturday 13 December
Buses replace all services between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Sunday 14 December
Buses replace all daytime services between Wellington and Upper Hutt
Thursday 25 December 2025 - Sunday 11 January 2026
Buses replace all services between Wellington and Masterton
Stop locations are visible on the map by selecting "Buses replacing trains bus stops" from the Show on map tab.
Last published: Thursday, 8 February 2024 at 12:52 am