The refurbished Epuni Station on the Hutt Valley Line will re-open to passengers on Tuesday 22 September.

Wellington Region Rail Programme Director David Gordon thanked passengers for their patience during construction.

“We initially thought Epuni wouldn’t be completed until October but good progress means we’ve been able to re-open the Station ahead of schedule,” David Gordon said.

Epuni Station has been closed to passengers since mid-August to allow the platform to be upgraded. The 1700m platform area has been re-sealed with the addition of passenger safety features such as yellow tactile strips at the platform edge.

Electrical ducting was also installed in preparation for the introduction in future of a real-time passenger information system by Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Work is still continuing on Petone station as part of the service upgrade.

“Passengers have been understanding about the amount of work that has been happening during the year – with the upgraded platform open for use, hopefully they will start to see some of the benefits of all the work we’ve been doing.”

The work is part of the wider rail upgrade, the Wellington Region Rail Programme, a joint initiative between KiwiRail (Tranz Metro and ONTRACK) and GWRC to improve passenger rail services.