page_title: Wairarapa Connection
hierarchical_section_title: Wairarapa Connection
caption_attribution_description: English: Wairarapa Connection at Carterton, DCP4818 and SW set Photographed by Palmeriain
context_page_description: The Wairarapa Connection is a New Zealand interurban commuter rail service along the Wairarapa Line between Masterton, the largest town in the Wairarapa, and Wellington. It is operated by Wellington suburban operator Transdev under contract from the Greater Wellington Regional Council. It is a diesel-hauled carriage service, introduced by the New Zealand Railways Department in 1964 after passenger demand between Masterton to Wellington exceeded the capacity of the diesel railcars then used.
  The 91-kilometre service operates five times daily in each direction Monday to Friday, three peak and two off-peak, with an additional service each way on Friday nights and two services each way on weekends and public holidays. It stops at all stations from Masterton to Upper Hutt, then runs express along the Hutt Valley Line to Wellington, stopping only at Waterloo and Petone stations.
  While all other regional passenger trains in New Zealand have been withdrawn, the Wairarapa Connection service continues due to the Wairarapa's proximity to Wellington and the advantage of the 8.8 km Rimutaka Tunnel through the Rimutaka Ranges compared to the narrow and winding Rimutaka Hill Road over them.
context_section_description: The Wairarapa Connection is a New Zealand interurban commuter rail service along the Wairarapa Line between Masterton, the largest town in the Wairarapa, and Wellington. It is operated by Wellington suburban operator Transdev (with KiwiRail sub-contracted to operate the locomotives) under contract from the Greater Wellington Regional Council. It is a diesel-hauled carriage service, introduced by the New Zealand Railways Department in 1964 after passenger demand between Masterton to Wellington exceeded the capacity of the diesel railcars then used.
  The 91-kilometre (57 mi) service operates five times daily in each direction Monday to Friday, three peak and two off-peak, with an additional service each way on Friday nights and two services each way on weekends and public holidays. It stops at all stations from Masterton to Upper Hutt, then runs express along the Hutt Valley Line to Wellington, stopping only at Waterloo and Petone stations.
  While all other regional passenger trains in New Zealand have been withdrawn (apart from the Capital Connection commuter service to Palmerston North), the Wairarapa Connection service continues due to the Wairarapa's proximity to Wellington and the advantage of the 8.8 km Rimutaka Tunnel through the Rimutaka Ranges compared to the narrow and winding Rimutaka Hill Road over them. In the year to 30 June 2013, the service's ridership was 705,000, down slightly from 719,000 in the 2011/12-year.
caption: DCP4818 and an SW carriage set on a northbound Wairarapa Connection service at Carterton in August 2007
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