Plan Ahead - Service Updates
Routes 29 and 39 changes - Derwent Street buses
From Sunday 25 January Routes 29 and 39 will be rerouted away from north Derwent Street to reduce the vibrations caused to houses and residents from passing Metlink buses.
Laser measure deflectometer (LMD) testing has revealed this stretch of road to be in notably worse condition compared to surrounding sections. Until Wellington City Council can repair the road, bus routes will be adjusted to avoid this portion of Derwent Street.
This will mean that routes 29 and 39 will no longer stop outside the Island Bay New World on Medway Street. Customers accessing the Island Bay shops from these routes can transfer to the route 1 bus or can walk from the nearest bus stop.
See the routes and maps below.
Route 29 will now use The Parade to avoid Derwent Street and will travel directly between The Parade and Mersey Street.
Southgate customers wanting to access the Island Bay shops can either:
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hop off at stop 6133 (The Parade) and walk about 400 metres or 6 minutes; or
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hop off at stop 6134 (The Parade), hop on the route 1 at stop 7134, and hop off at stop 7132.
Ōwhiro Bay customers wanting to access the Island Bay shops can either:
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hop off at stop 7960 (Mersey Street) and walk about 450 metres or 6 minutes; or
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hop off at stop 7134 (The Parade), hop on the route 1 at stop 7134, and hop off at stop 7132.
Route 39 will now originate and terminate at Reef Street and will no longer travel further into Island Bay to stop at Medway Street.
Customers wanting to access the Island Bay shops can hop off the route 39 at stop 6158 (Reef Street), cross the road, hop on the route 1 at stop 7158, and then hop off at stop 7132 (The Parade).
Term 4 Changes from Sunday 21 December 2025
From Sunday 21 December, Metlink are making changes to several bus routes due to the closure of Melling Station on 24 December 2025.
Bus routes 145, 149 and 951 will have diversions in place and changes to their timetables from Sunday 21 December due to the Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi (RiverLink) project.
Melling Station, and its Park & Ride carpark, will be closed for three years from Wednesday, 24 December. The Melling Line will stay open with services travelling between Wellington and Western Hutt Stations.
Please ensure you plan ahead and check your timetable before you travel.
Changes happening to Route 145 are:
- Route 145 will no longer travel via Melling Station.
- This means that stop 9117 on High Street will no longer allow passengers to travel to Belmont. Instead, they will need to use Stop C at Queensgate.
- The new route will connect Lower Hutt and Belmont via Waterloo Station (travelling on Oxford Terrace, Harrison Crescent, Daysh Street and Fairway Drive).
- The route will no longer service Melling Link, High Street, Kings Crescent, Pretoria Street, Cornwall Street, Bunny Street, Knights Road, Bloomfield Terrace, Laings Road, Willoughby Street, Wilford Street or Kauri Street.
Peak/off peak variants
- All trips will travel to Hill Road first, followed by Park Road.
- The 7:38 AM weekday trip will travel via Hutt Central schools on school days only.
- The 3:20 PM weekday trip from St Oran’s College will depart from Queensgate – Stop C at 3:34 during the school holidays
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday 21 December 2025.
Changes happening to Route 149 are:
- Route 149 will no longer travel via Melling Station.
- The new route will travel directly through Melling Link to Harbour View Road (instead of looping around Block Road and Pharazyn Street).
Peak/off peak variants
- The 7:36 AM weekday trip will travel via Hutt Central schools on school days only.
- The 3:07 PM weekday trip from St Bernard’s College will depart from Waterloo Station – Stop B at 3:11 during the school holidays.
- Stop 9138 – Harbour View Road at Panorama Grove (school stop) is served only by the school extension trips.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday 21 December 2025.
Changes happening to Route 951 are:
- Route 951 will no longer travel via Melling Station.
- The new route will begin at Queensgate Stop A travelling to Western Hutt Road via High Street and Fairway Drive. In the afternoon it will terminate at Queensgate Stop C.
- The route will no longer service Western Hutt Road between Fairway Drive and Melling Link, Melling Link and Rutherford Street.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday 21 December 2025.
From Wednesday, 24 December 2025 Melling Station will close to prepare for the station relocation as part of Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi project construction.
Melling Station, and its Park & Ride carpark, will be closed for three years. The Melling line will stay open with services travelling between Wellington and Western Hutt Stations.
While Melling Station is closed, customers on the Melling or Hutt Valley Lines can use other ways to travel.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday 21 December 2025.
Term 3 Changes from Sunday 13 July 2025
From Sunday 13 July Metlink are making adjustments to bus timetables and routes to enhance service efficiency and accommodate growing demand around the Newlands area.
Please ensure you plan ahead and check your timetable before you travel.
Changes happening to Route 52 are:
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An extra early morning service at 5.38am will provide a better connection with the Hospital Express (HX) at Wellington Railway Station. This will allow hospital staff to get to work for their 7am shift.
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The previous early morning service will now leave Johnsonville 2 minutes earlier at 5.58am for a better connection with the HX at the Railway Station.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday July 13.
Changes happening to Route 56 are:
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A bus will run approximately every 5 minutes on Newlands Road because of adjusted peak timetables.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday July 13.
Changes happening to Route 57 are:
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Two extra weekday morning services.
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Three extra weekday afternoon services.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday July 13.
Changes happening to Route 58 are:
- One extra weekday morning service.
The new timetable will be available on our website on Sunday July 13.
Changes happening to Route 60 are:
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The route will be extended to include Whitireia Polytech. This change means passengers using Route 60 will no longer need to transfer to the Route 220 to reach Whitireia.
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Improved connections with train services at Porirua Station in both directions.
- The Route 60 will now travel from Kenepuru Hospital to Kenepuru Drive via Kārearea Avenue and Lower Main Drive.
- Please refer to the map below to see the part of Kenepuru Drive that will no longer be used by the Route 60.
Please note: There are no changes to the N6 after-midnight service. The N6 bus will continue to use the same route along Kenepuru Drive, which was previously used by the 60 and 60e buses before this change.
Changes happening to Route 60e are:
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One afternoon extension of this service will now pick up from St Patrick’s College Kilbirnie. This is not a school only bus.
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The route will be extended to include Whitireia Polytech. This change means passengers using Route 60 will no longer need to transfer to the Route 220 to reach Whitireia.
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Improved connections with train services at Porirua Station in both directions.
- The Route 60e will now travel from Kenepuru Hospital to Kenepuru Drive via Kārearea Avenue and Lower Main Drive.
- Please refer to the map below to see the part of Kenepuru Drive that will no longer be used by the Route 60e.
Please note: There are no changes to the N6 after-midnight service. The N6 bus will continue to use the same route along Kenepuru Drive, which was previously used by the 60 and 60e buses before this change.
Term 2 Changes from Sunday 27 April 2025
From Sunday 27 April Metlink are making significant adjustments to bus timetables and routes to enhance service efficiency and accommodate growing demand.
Several routes will be affected, including the Beacon Hill Shuttle (Route 28), being discontinued, and the N2 and N3 after midnight services being replaced by late night Route 2 services. The Route 12e service will transition to a new express route, 38x.
Some routes will receive extra morning and afternoon peak services. Extra services will be introduced across weekends for select routes, and minor timetable adjustments will improve on-time reliability.
The following bus routes will have changes to their timetables from Sunday 27 April. Please ensure you plan ahead and check your timetable before you travel.
Due to a data error, there will be a delay in providing correct timetables for the 27 April changes to bus services. We apologise for an inconvenience and advise you allow an extra 5 minutes at the start of your journey to ensure you catch your bus. This will be fixed shortly.
Changes happening to Route 2 are:
- The After-Midnight services N2 & N3 will be replaced by Route 2 services at midnight, 1am & 2am, 5am, departing from both Seatoun (Via Miramar terminus) & Karori.
Changes happening to Route 3 are:
- An extra service from each Lyall Bay and Rongotai in the AM peak due to increased patronage.
- Minor timetable adjustments for service enhancements.
Changes happening to Route 4 are:
- The Route 4 will become a 20-minute frequency on a Saturday between 8am and 3pm (to cover the removal of Route 18).
Changes happening to Route 12e are:
The 12e is changing to a new Express route (38x), which includes Kilbirnie Hub and misses Hataitai Hub.
The 38x will stop at all stops between Stop 7099 (Strathmore Park - Kekerenga Street) and Stop 7080 (Miramar Avenue at Portsmouth Road). From there it is express to Courtenay Place - only stopping at Kilbirnie Bus Interchange. Then it stops at all stops between Courtney Place Stop A and Wellington Station Stop A.
The 38x departing from Strathmore does not travel to Wellington Station, and ends its journey at Stop 5113 Molesworth St (near 95). The 38x departs from Wellington Station Stop A heading to Strathmore.
Changes happening to Route 14 are:
- An extra service from each Wilton and Kilbirnie in the AM peak due to increased patronage.
- Minor timetable adjustments for service enhancements.
Changes happening to Route 18 are:
- The weekend services are being removed, replaced by targeted services.
- The last 2 evening weekday services will be removed, with some timetable adjustments to still cover late lectures from Victoria University.
Changes happening to Route 20 are:
- Removal of a section of the route from Mt Vic Lookout to Kilbirnie (No SPCA access) due to low patronage.
The Beacon Hill Shuttle will end operation from Thursday 24 April.
Your alternative bus options are Route 2 or 4 or for schools Route 722 for Scots College and Route 760 for Kahurangi School.
Changes happening to Route 30x are:
- An extra service from Moa Point in the AM peak due to increased patronage.
- Minor timetable adjustments for service enhancements.
Changes happening to Route 31x are:
- An extra service from Miramar North in the AM peak due to increased patronage.
- The 2.20pm service from Wellington Station has been removed.
- Minor Timetable adjustments for service enhancements.
Changes happening to Route 33 are:
- The Route 33 will now be a loop service, between Karori Mall, Karori South, back to Karori Mall during the day.
- All peak services to and from Brandon Street are not changing.
Changes happening to Route 35 are:
- Three extra peak weekday PM services added.
- Timetable adjustments to accommodate the new services and the following 4 services (Outbound only).
- Minor timetable adjustments for inbound services.
Changes happening to Route 81 are:
- An extra service from Eastbourne in the AM peak due to increased patronage.
- Minor timetable adjustments for service enhancements.
Changes happening to Route 83 are:
- Most weekend services are now double-decker buses.
The N2 After Midnight will be replaced by the following late night Route 2 services.
- Saturday and Sunday services depart from Courtenay Place to Seatoun/Miramar
- 0:21am, 1:21am and 2:21am
The N3 After Midnight will be replaced by the following late night Route 2 services.
- Saturday and Sunday services depart from Courtenay Place to Karori
- 0:28am, 1:28am and 2:28am
Metlink is re-introducing the Route 700 from Wellington Station to the Basin Reserve (Wellington College / St Marks), due to increasing demand with increasing school rolls.
Changes happening to Route 751 are:
- We are adding a second bus to Route 751. Both buses will go to St Patrick’s College, and one will continue to Rongotai College.
- They will both travel via Pirie Street to serve Wellington East Girls’ College.
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The timetables are being improved for better reliability on routes 611, 614, 617, 619, 621, 623, 667, 711, 712, 715, 716, 717, 719, 721, 722, 736, 739, 740, 742, 744, 745, 751, 754, 755, 758, 760, 764, 767, 768, 784, 791, 888.
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There will be no changes to departure times on ANY school routes.