Johnsonville branch line

Johnsonville Branch
Matangi (FP class) EMU 4103 at Khandallah Station on the Johnsonville Branch in March 2011.
Overview
Type	commuter rail
System	Metlink
Status	Open, passenger only
Locale	Wellington, New Zealand
Termini	Wellington Johnsonville
Stations	8
Ridership	1,119,000 per annum (2011–12)
Operation
Opened	24 September 1885 (as Wellington & Manawatu Railway)
Owner	KiwiRail (track) Greater Wellington Regional Council (stations)
Operator(s)	Transdev Wellington
Character	Suburban
Rolling stock	Matangi class electric multiple units
Technical
Line length	10.49 km
Number of tracks	1 with 3 crossing loops
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification	1600 V DC overhead
Operating speed	64 km/h (maximum) 40 km/h (in tunnels)
Highest elevation	152 m (Raroa)
Route number	JVL
Route map 10.49 km Johnsonville Former goods shed and yard Broderick Road 119m Tui Tunnel 9.2 km Raroa Former sidings & stock yard Fraser Avenue 104m Kaka Tunnel Rangoon Street Station Road / Cashmere Avenue 8.0 km Khandallah Khandallah Road 7.2 km Box Hill 6.9 km Simla Crescent Simla Crescent 6.0 km Awarua Street Awarua Street Collingwood Street 5.2 km Ngaio Churchill Drive 4.9 km Crofton Downs 127m Ngaio Tunnel 199m Lizard Tunnel 3.09 km Wadestown loop 151m Gorge Tunnel 98m Kaiwarra Tunnel 126m Outlet Tunnel Hutt Road NIMT and Wairarapa Line State Highway 1 Wellington railyards 0.0 km Wellington

The Johnsonville Branch known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah.

Transdev Wellington operates the trains under contract from the Greater Wellington Regional Council. In 2001, an estimated 1,043 passengers used the line on a working day.

The line was built in the 1880s as part of the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company line to connect Wellington to Longburn. Construction started in 1879, and the first section, to Paremata, opened on 24 September 1885. The line became part of the North Island Main Trunk when the government bought the WMR in December 1908.

The line was used by railway workers from the Tarikaka Settlement in Ngaio, including early shift workers who needed to fire up steam locomotives at the Wellington depot.

Two experimental RM class railcars were briefly used on the line as NZR sought to develop economically viable railcar technology. The Westinghouse railcar was introduced in 1914 and served through to 1917. The Thomas Transmission railcar was introduced in 1916 and operated sporadically into the early 1920s. Both railcars struggled on the steep grades and revealed that further advances were needed to make railcars suitable to New Zealand's conditions.

The line became a branch when the Tawa Flat deviation of the NIMT opened to passengers in 1937, and was sometimes called The Hill (in NZR jargon). The line was electrified at 1500 V DC overhead supply, and the new service with the new English Electric DM/D class electric multiple units service started from Monday 4 July 1938, after an opening ceremony on 2 July. The units normal operate as two-car motor/trailer sets, or four-car sets in peak hours. Additional DM/D class units were ordered for the line in 1942 and supplied in 1946.