9 April 2026
File Ref: OIAPR-1274023063-49219
Andrew Ecclestone
By email:
[FYI request #33864 email]
Tēnā koe Andrew
Request for information 2026-132
I refer to your request for information dated 27 March 2026, which was received by Greater
Wellington Regional Council (Greater Wellington) on 27 March 2026. You have requested the
following:
“Thank you for GWRC's response of 27 March 20206. It appears GWRC has misinterpreted my
request for information.
In your response you wrote "At this stage in that project there is insufficient information for
Greater Wellington to consider implementing a new route, or altering an existing route, along
this proposed road."
I am not seeking information about the possible provision of bus services along the
expressway proposed by NZTA to run between Grenada and Petone.
I am seeking information held by GWRC about any exploration it has done of provision of bus
routes between the places I listed in my request *in the past*, before this expressway was
proposed.
NZTA has proposed building a road that will cost at least $2.5 billion to build (for which it has
no funding), but has done no modelling of whether the proposed road is unnecessary because
its claimed traffic congestion problem could be solved by GWRC providing public transport
between these locations.
I therefore want to know whether the Regional Council, which is responsible for public
transport in the Wellington region, has ever explored the provision of bus services between
two main centres of population and work in the region, Porirua and Lower Hutt, and places in
between. And I want the filing references to any documents recording this.
Wellington office
Upper Hutt
Masterton office
0800 496 734
PO Box 11646
PO Box 40847
PO Box 41
www.gw.govt.nz
Manners St, Wel ington
1056 Fergusson Drive
Masterton 5840
[Wellington Regional Council request email]
6142
GWRC also appears to have limited itself when interpreting my request for information about
passenger rail services between Porirua and Lower Hutt. While it may not have done any work
to explore the possibility of building track to join the Kapiti and Hutt lines, there is already a
junction of those two lines, at Kaiwharawhara. I would therefore like GWRC to search its
records to establish whether it holds any information that relates to a passenger rail service
travelling between Porirua and the Hutt that utilises existing track and after travelling south
from Porirua to Kaiwharawhara changes direction and then travels north on the Hutt Line to
Petone and/or Lower Hutt. And vice versa.
I hope this is now clear enough for GWRC to understand, and apologise if my brevity caused
difficulties for people trying to respond to my request.
I look forward to receiving a response to this request as soon as practicable.”
Greater Wellington’s response follows:
Your request has been assessed under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings
Act 1987 (the Act).
The Wellington Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP) guides the design and delivery of public
transport services, information and infrastructure in the Wellington region. The RPTP has a ten-
year strategic focus with particular attention to the coming three-yearly operational cycle. The
RPTP is publicly available here:
www.gw.govt.nz/your-region/plans-policies-and-
bylaws/plans-and-reports/transport-plans-and-strategies/wellington-regional-public-
transport-plan/
The current RPTP includes three references (see pages 78, 93 and 111) to planning relating to
east-west connections between the Hutt Valley and Porirua. These refer to plans to “investigate
an East-West connection between Upper Hutt and Porirua” over the ten years following the
RPTP’s adoption by Greater Wellington (i.e. from June 2025). This investigation has not yet been
scheduled or commenced.
Previous versions of the RPTP do not include any investigations or modelling relating to service
provision between Porirua and the Hutt Valley. No records were located in our search relating
to Metlink undertaking detailed planning, modelling, or option development for east–west bus
connections between Porirua, Lower Hutt, Petone, or the suburbs in between. As noted in our
earlier response, the only material held that relates to east–west connections is limited to
high‑level indicative costing work undertaken as part of broader 2024-2034 Long Term Plan
budget discussions. This recognises that there may be detailed investigation required and
budget provision for that. However, this has not occurred.
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The email documents were listed in our response to request 2026‑089 and represent the full
extent of information held. No additional documents have been identified through this further
search.
You have also asked whether Greater Wellington holds any information relating to a passenger
rail service that could operate between Porirua and the Hutt Valley using existing track via
Kaiwharawhara.
Please refer to the Wellington Rail Programme Business Case | Wellington's Strategic Rail Plan
- July 2022 available on the Greater Wellington website here:
https://www.gw.govt.nz/document/19937/wellington-rail-programme-business-case-
wellingtons-strategic-rail-plan-july-2022/
Table 6.1.4.1 on page 83 shows that a study to investigate a future east – west link was
considered as part of that plan. Although it states that there was a decision made to progress
with this study, ultimately no further work has been made to progress any study on it.
As noted in our earlier response, any project involving new or reconfigured rail services would
require joint planning between Greater Wellington and KiwiRail.
If you have any concerns with the decision(s) referred to in this letter, you have the right to
request an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Act.
Please note that it is our policy to proactively release our responses to official information
requests where appropriate. Our response to your request will be published shortly on Greater
Wellington’s website with your personal information removed.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Paul Tawharu
Kaiwhakahaere Matua Waka-ā-atea | Group Manager Metlink (Acting)
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