Gracefield Branch - History

History

Planning for the Gracefield Branch was included in surveys done for the Hutt Valley Branch line in 1924 and 1925. The line was intended to serve an area of 80 acres (32 ha) that had been purchased for the establishment of new railway workshops to replace those at Petone and an area at Gracefield intended for industrial development.

The line opened on 1 April 1929 and originally had one station, the terminus at Hutt Park. In 1943 the line was extended into Gracefield and a new terminus established there. Following land reclamation in the 1950s & 1960s, an extensive network of sidings were built at Seaview to serve industrial interests, including the Ford Motor Vehicle Assembly Plant; oil terminals for BP, Caltex, Europa and Shell; Pacific Scrap; and the Ministry of Works.

Electrification of the Woburn – Hutt Park section commenced in 1953 using the 1.5kV DC overhead line system, coinciding with the electrification of the Wairarapa Line between Wellington and Taita. The catenary was extended slightly in 1959/1960 to allow for EMUs running race trains to Hutt Park to use a workshops siding. A further extension of the catenary was opened in 1966 for goods trains to Gracefield Freight Terminal. Though there were no electric trains running on the branch from 1983 following the cessation of the workers' trains to the workshops, and the catenary and related electrification infrastructure were removed in 1990.

In 1972 a new Freight Depot was opened at Gracefield to relieve pressure on Lower Hutt Station (now Western Hutt) for small consignments. In 1981 the goods facilities at Lower Hutt Station were closed and the local goods shunts to Lower Hutt ceased. Goods handling was transferred to a new facility at Gracefield.

Gracefield Yard was closed on 30 April 2002. The industrial sidings at Seaview were lifted at about this time. Track between the Hutt Workshops and Gracefield has not been used since Gracefield Freight Terminal was closed, and is now mothballed.