Public transport in the Wellington Region


Public transport in the Wellington Region, branded under the name Metlink, is the public transport system serving Wellington and its surrounding region. It is the most used public transport system in New Zealand per capita, and consists of electric and diesel buses, suburban trains, ferries and a funicular . It also included trams until 1964, and trolleybuses until 2017.
Buses and ferries are privately owned, with the infrastructure owned by public bodies, and public transport is often subsidised. The Greater Wellington Regional Council is responsible for planning and subsidising public transport, and pays around $30 million for bus and train services each year. The system covers Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, the Kāpiti Coast and the Wairarapa.

System

Extent

The Regional Council's Regional Public Transport Plan notes that Wellington had in 2019:
  • a rail network with around 83 multi-units and 24 carriages, which serve 48 stations.
  • a bus network with 457 buses serving 3,179 stops on around 232 routes.
  • two harbour ferries.
  • a five-station funicular, the Cable Car.
GIS information indicates that 77% of the region's population lives within 800 metres of
public transport stop with a 30-minute frequency or better.
Wellington's hilly terrain has a considerable effect on public transport. Some planners consider Wellington to be a "good" city for public transport management, as the topography concentrates settlement in valleys or along coastlines, providing clear, dense "corridors" for transport routes. At the same time, however, the hilly terrain proved a hindrance for the construction of rail and tram lines, and buses sometimes have difficulty on narrow and winding streets.

Usage

According to Metlink, over 40 million passenger trips were made by public transport in Wellington in 2018/2019, and this number has been growing in recent years. The Wellington Region has the highest per capita use of public transport in New Zealand, with trips per capita in the year ending September 2019.
Of the approximately 37.33 million trips, around 24.33 million are made by bus, 12.80 million by train, and 0.18 million by ferry.
YearBusFerryRailTotal patronage
2001/0219,795,687114,16310,163,06130,072,911
2002/0320,711,898117,02710,010,44830,839,373
2003/0421,338,606127,1109,953,40831,419,124
2004/0521,902,604137,84410,253,81132,294,259
2005/0623,487,552155,79911,097,42334,740,774
2006/0722,794,990156,71811,175,99334,127,701
2007/0822,964,384177,12811,552,45334,693,965
2008/0923,381,247179,98111,875,82035,437,048
2009/1023,647,840182,03411,133,67734,963,551
2010/1124,026,904176,58111,202,22735,405,712
2011/1224,111,291176,69811,274,14135,562,130
2012/1323,607,936192,54911,355,40335,155,888
2013/1423,981,194180,15511,643,29235,804,641
2014/1524,098,765179,10612,128,99536,406,866
2015/1624,331,408197,88912,801,18237,330,479
2016/1724,437,473195,75113,121,52537,754,749
2017/1824,716,617204,20913,552,86638,473,692
2018/1924,746,993202,20114,323,87839,273,072
2019/2021,335,320165,38211,489,11032,989,812
2020/2121,670,682167,64811,270,83733,109,167
2021/2217,654,506137,4248,133,99925,925,929
2022/2322,272,833194,66110,711,68833,179,182

Patronage data from the 2018/19 year is not directly comparable with previous years, particularly for bus services, due to changes in the reporting method for statistics related to the implementation of new bus contracts in the region. Details may be found in the cited spreadsheet.
COVID-19 affected statistics for all modes from late March 2020

Ticketing

s pay for most services under Metlink, excluding ferries; and has been used on bus services since 2009; for trains, it was first introduced on the Johnsonville Line in 2021; and on the Hutt Valley Line, Kāpiti Line, Melling Branch and the Wairarapa Connection in November 2022. Tickets for single bus and train rides can still be purchased on board using cash.
Snapper cards are being replaced by the National Ticketing Solution, branded as Motu Move. This is expected to occur in 2026 for the Wellington Region.

Modes

Buses

Wellington has an extensive network of bus routes. The routes are determined by the Regional Council, which regulates commercially provided services and solicits bids from private operators to run the services it is prepared to subsidise.
From July 2018, the largest operator is Tranzit Group, which provides services for most of Wellington City, the Hutt Valley, and the Wairarapa under the Tranzurban brand. In Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast most services are provided by Uzabus. Other bus providers in the region include Mana Coach Services which provides services in the northern suburbs and Tawa, and NZ Bus which provides services from Eastbourne and the east-west spine between Karori and Miramar. Prior to July 2018, the largest operator was NZ Bus, which provided services for most of Wellington City under the GOWellington brand and for the Hutt Valley under the Valley Flyer and Runciman Motors brands. In Porirua and the Kāpiti Coast most services were provided by Mana Coach Services.
The majority of buses in the Wellington area are powered by diesel, but GOWellington previously also had 60 trolleybuses that it operated within Wellington city. The trolleybus network was introduced between 1949 and 1964 to replace Wellington's trams and closed down in October 2017. From July 2018, Tranzit will introduce electric buses progressively onto their routes; the Greater Wellington Regional Council has also voted to look into proposals to make both rapid transport spines, Johnsonville to Island Bay and Karori to Seatoun, fully electric by 2021 and 2023 respectively and make a core route in both the Hutt Valley and Porirua fully electric as electric buses are introduced. As of April 2024, Wellington has 103 electric buses in urban service, the second highest electric fleet in New Zealand after Auckland which has 133 electric buses. Since 2018, new diesel buses on Metlink routes are required to be at least Euro V standard.
All Metlink buses accept the contactless Snapper card. As of April 2011, Wellington buses report real time location information which is displayed on electronic signs in some Wellington bus stops and can be viewed online.
From 2019, bike racks have been fitted to most buses operated in Metlink branding.
Tawa has five on-demand minibuses operated by Mana for a year's trial from 16 May 2022. Metlink plan to introduce five bendy buses to Wellington in 2026 for use on route 2 to deal with overcrowding. If successful, 29 more will be ordered.

Trains

operates Metlink's five-line commuter network, which fans north out of Wellington railway station as far as Waikanae in the north and Masterton in the east. Transdev Wellington operates the service under contract to the Greater Wellington Regional Council with rolling stock owned by the council, and rail infrastructure owned by KiwiRail. Until 2016 KiwiRail division Tranz Metro had the contract to operate Metlink's services.
Since July 2016, Wellington's commuter rail services have been operated by Transdev Wellington. Transdev subcontracts KiwiRail to provide and operate the diesel locomotives on the Wairarapa services. In the year ending 30 June 2017, 88.3% of rail services ran on time; this figure is lower than previous years, as timeliness is now measured directly by Metlink rather than relying on self-reporting by the operator, and is measured at all key stations rather than just Wellington Station.
There are two major rail corridors in Wellington. The North Island Main Trunk runs along the western coastline, passing through Porirua and Paraparaumu to Waikanae on the Kāpiti Coast ; the Wairarapa Line runs along the edge of Wellington Harbour and then up the Hutt Valley, passing through both Lower and Upper Hutt. Less frequent services continue through the rural Wairarapa, stopping at a number of small towns before terminating at Masterton. There are also the Johnsonville Line in the north of Wellington and the Melling Line on the western side of Lower Hutt. The Kāpiti Line and Hutt Valley Line are mostly double track, except for a short stretch on the Kāpiti Line between Muri and Paekākāriki and between the Waikanae River and Waikanae station. The Johnsonville line is single track with passing loops, while the Melling lines is single track throughout.
There are 49 stations in the rail network, all except Wellington railway station owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council. Wellington station is the busiest by far, with trains arriving and departing every few minutes at peak times. The next busiest stations are Porirua, Waterloo and Johnsonville. Most stations are served by only one line.
Most trains are the FP class Matangi electric multiple units, in sets of two to eight cars, introduced from 2011. They displaced the older DM class English Electric units, the last of which were withdrawn from service in 2012, and the EM class Ganz Mavag units, the last of which were withdrawn from service in 2016. The Wairarapa line beyond Upper Hutt is not electrified, so the Wairarapa Connection trains to Masterton are diesel-hauled with SW and SE class carriages.
There are long-distance trains to Palmerston North and Auckland. These are not part of the Wellington transport system.
The Capital Connection and the Wairarapa Connection are to be operated by Alstom as part of the regional network from 2030.