HuttNZ

The Upper Hutt Council is planning an upgrade to the tune of $800,000  in the area around the railway station the problem being that it is a minimum of 4 years away not planned until 2013-14.

The direct responsibility of the station building and platform belongs to the Greater Wellington Regional Council which also has the station on an upgrade plan to roughly coincide with the UHCC plans.

A recent submission by Ms Tamsin Sommerville (UHCC Policy Mgr) to the GWRC highlighted the need for a coordinated approach

“The attractiveness and usability of this train station is of vital importance to Upper Hutt economic development and community well being. The problem is the station has been in a bad state of repairs for many years. It has been identified and highlighted by police, youth surveys and older adult forums as a major hot spot for crime.”

Recently UHCC upgraded the subway but without a coordinated approach the public perception of safety in using public transport is hindered. 2014 is a long time away.

It would appear that the Hutt Valley region has suffered strongly from under investment in Rail infrastructure as has been highlighted here before. The arrival next year of the new trains will mitigate this situation. Given the current economy one can but hope that several plans for rail are fast tracked to help the vast majority of commuters who use this service.