Wellington - Manawatu Line

The Wellington and Manawatu Line is an unofficial name for the section of New Zealand's North Island Main Trunk Railway between Wellington and Palmerston North. Originally a government project, the line (initially known as the West Coast Railway) was constructed by the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and bought by the government in December 1908.

Proposals for a railway line on the west coast of the North Island predated proposals for a railway line from Wellington to the Wairarapa, but land-owning interests in the Wairarapa saw that the latter line was given higher priority. Proposals for a line along the west coast did not resurface until 1878, following the completion of the Palmerston North - Foxton Line in 1876. Proposals were based on the line from the Hutt Valley. The Public Works Department conducted a number of surveys a concluded there were three possible routes: from Upper Hutt via the Akatarawa Valley to Waikanae; from Taitā in the Hutt Valley to Paekakariki via Haywards; and via Johnsonville and Porirua. The final option was settled on, as the first two required significant tunnelling, then not feasible (Wellington had a population of just 22,000 in 1878).

The government of Sir George Grey approved the construction of the line, which was included in the Public Works Estimates, reported to the House of Representatives on 27 August 1878. The final details of the survey were completed, and the first construction workers were hired on 21 August 1879. However, Grey's government was defeated in October 1879, and the government of Sir John Hall elected in its place. Hall had the line removed from the Public Works Estimates, and then created a Royal Commission to review the government's public works programme, with a view to reducing government expenditure. The Commission reviewed the Wellington - Manawatu line in March 1880, and concluded that work should be abandoned.

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