Editing Upper Hutt (section)

==Transport==
{{See also|Public transport in the Wellington Region}}

===Road===
[[New Zealand State Highway 2|State Highway 2]] is the principal highway through Upper Hutt, connecting with [[Lower Hutt]] and [[Wellington]]'s motorway system to the south, and the [[Wairarapa]] region via the [[Remutaka Hill|Remutaka Hill Road]] to the north.

Fergusson Drive is the main thoroughfare through suburban Upper Hutt, passing through the city centre and connecting to State Highway 2 at Silverstream and Maoribank. It formed part of State Highway 2 before the River Road bypass opened in 1987.

In the 1980s, significant travel delays were being experienced through Upper Hutt, with State Highway 2 traffic travelling from Lower Hutt and Wellington to central Upper Hutt and further afield to the Wairarapa being funnelled down the two-lane Fergusson Drive and mixing with local traffic through Silverstream and Trentham. With the central government reluctant to fund any road improvements in the area, the Upper Hutt City Council commissioned the construction of a two-laned high-speed bypass along the banks of Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River from the Taitā Gorge in the south to Māoribank in the north. River Road, as the road became known, opened in 1987. It promptly ran at full capacity and, after several serious accidents that were a legacy of its origins, it was enlarged and re-engineered to cope with the growing traffic volume. Today, River Road is a median-divided [[2+1 road]] from the Taitā Gorge to Tōtara Park, with two-laned undivided sections over the Moonshine Bridge and from Tōtara Park to Maoribank.

[[New Zealand State Highway 58|State Highway 58]], while only briefly in Upper Hutt itself, intersects with SH 2 a short distance to the south of the boundary of Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt, and provides a link between Upper Hutt and [[Porirua]].

[[New Zealand State Highway 1|State Highway 1]] (as the [[Transmission Gully Motorway]]) briefly touches Upper Hutt at the Wainui Saddle (the [[tripoint]] of Upper Hutt, [[Porirua City]] and the [[Kāpiti Coast District]]), but otherwise does not pass through the region.

===Bus===
Bus services, planned and subsidised by Greater Wellington Regional Council under the [[Metlink Wellington|Metlink]] brand, are centred around the [[Upper Hutt railway station]] and operate from Monday to Saturday on most routes, with the 110 route between Upper Hutt and [[Lower Hutt]] operating 7 days a week.<ref name="Bus 110 Timetable">{{cite web |url=https://www.metlink.org.nz/service/110 |title=Route 110 Emerald Hill – Upper Hutt – Lower Hutt – Petone |website=Metlink |access-date=8 December 2021}}</ref> All of the urbanised areas of the city are served by public bus routes, and the rural areas are served by school buses.

===Railway===
{{main|Hutt Valley Line|Wairarapa Line|Upper Hutt railway station}}

Upper Hutt is on the [[Hutt Valley Line]], Metlink electric trains operated by [[Transdev Wellington]] run between 4:30{{nbsp}}am and 11{{nbsp}}pm weekdays, (midnight Fridays), 5{{nbsp}}am till midnight Saturdays and 6{{nbsp}}am till 11{{nbsp}}pm Sundays. Service which reaches [[Waterloo railway station, Lower Hutt|Waterloo]] in Lower Hutt in around 20 minutes and [[Wellington railway station|Wellington]] in around 45 minutes. Express peak hour weekday trains reach Wellington in around 38 minutes. Services run every 20 minutes between 6{{nbsp}}am and 4:30{{nbsp}}pm weekday and half-hourly Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Evening services run hourly from 8 to 11{{nbsp}}pm.

The railway continues beyond Upper Hutt to [[Masterton]], becoming the [[Wairarapa Line]], which is not electrified. Masterton is about an hour away by morning and afternoon diesel hauled trains. There are services five times a day each way Monday to Thursday, six on Friday, and twice a day, each way on Saturday, Sunday, and public holidays. A notable feature of this section of railway is the [[Rimutaka Tunnel]], the second-longest railway tunnel in New Zealand, which replaced the [[Rimutaka Incline]] in 1955.

There are six railway stations within the boundaries of the city: [[Silverstream railway station|Silverstream]], [[Heretaunga railway station|Heretaunga]], [[Trentham railway station, Upper Hutt|Trentham]], [[Wallaceville railway station|Wallaceville]], [[Upper Hutt railway station|Upper Hutt]] (the main station for the city and outer terminus of electric services), and [[Maymorn railway station|Maymorn]] (a request stop on the Wairarapa Line).
[[File:Upper Hutt sculpture (2020 LM) 08.jpg|alt=an iron oxide metal sculpture depicting abstract figure walking in single file, a stone sculpture in the background of a mother and two children, the entrance of the single story railway station building on the left|thumb|Public art outside the Upper Hutt railway station.]]
Upper Hutt's main railway station was originally built in 1876 but has been rebuilt twice, firstly in 1955 and more recently in 2015. The most recent rebuild, jointly funded by [[NZ Transport Agency|NZTA]] and the Upper Hutt City Council, cost $3.5m and features a coffee bar, public toilets and an upgraded ticket office featuring real-time information of arrivals and departures of trains in a larger waiting room than the 1955 building.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hutt-valley/75110358/regional-collaboration-gets-new-upper-hutt-railway-station-finished|title=Regional collaboration gets new Upper Hutt railway station finished|last=Edwards|first=Simon|date=15 December 2015|work=The Dominion Post|publisher=Fairfax|access-date=23 July 2018}}</ref>

In July 1955, the electrification of the railway line from Wellington to Upper Hutt was completed, allowing fast electric multiple unit trains to replace steam- and diesel-electric-hauled carriage trains. Later in November, the 8.8&nbsp;km [[Rimutaka Tunnel]] opened, bypassing the Remutaka Incline and most of the existing line between Upper Hutt and Featherston, and reducing the time between the two from 2.5 hours to just 40 minutes.

The ''Blue Mountains Campus''  at Wallaceville is to be the location for KiwiRail 's national train control centre, which is to move from the [[Wellington railway station]]; to house a team of 120 train control team members in a {{Convert|2700|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} train control room. It will be next to the rail network.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126515555/kiwirail-signs-20year-lease-at-100m-business-hub-plans-to-set-up-new-train-control-room |title= KiwiRail signs 20-year lease at 100M2 business hub, plans to set-up new train control room |publisher= Stuff/Fairfax |date= 2023}}</ref>
     
====Remutaka Incline====
{{Main|Rimutaka Incline}}

To assist with the 1 in 15 grade of the [[Rimutaka Incline]] on the Featherston side of the range, the [[Fell mountain railway system|Fell engines]] that used a raised centre rail to haul trains up the steep grade were employed. The less steep 1 in 40 grades between Upper Hutt and the small settlement and shunting yard at [[Summit, New Zealand|Summit]] could be managed by ordinary steam locomotives. The only other rolling stock able to traverse the incline unaided were small bus-like Wairarapa railcars, colloquially known as "''Tin Hares''".

By the 1950s, the Fell system had become too expensive to operate and was closed on 29 October 1955. To replace it, the [[Rimutaka Tunnel]] had been constructed, opening on 3 November 1955. In conjunction with the tunnel, the laying of a new route, new bridges and substantial realignment and double-tracking of the rest of the line from Wellington to Trentham had occurred by 26 June 1955.

The course of the incline is open to the public as part of the [[Remutaka Rail Trail]].