Ava railway station facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ava
Metlink suburban rail
Location	North Street, Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Coordinates	41°13′10.52″S 174°53′30.06″E / 41.2195889°S 174.8916833°E / -41.2195889; 174.8916833
Owned by	Greater Wellington Regional Council
Line(s)	Hutt Valley Line
Platforms	Island
Tracks	Main line (2)
Construction
Parking	Yes
Other information
Station code	AVA
Fare zone	4
History
Opened	27 May 1927
Rebuilt	1976
Electrified	14 September 1953
Services
Preceding station Transdev Wellington Following station Woburn toward Upper Hutt Hutt Valley Line Petone toward Wellington

Ava railway station is a train station that serves parts of Petone and Alicetown in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. It's located in a neighbourhood where these two suburbs meet. The station is about 12.5 kilometres (7.8 miles) north of Wellington. It is an important stop on the Hutt Valley Line.

Trains at Ava station are run by Transdev Wellington for the Greater Wellington Regional Council. You can catch trains from Ava to Wellington, Taitā, and Upper Hutt.

The station has a special platform called an island platform. This means the platform is in the middle, with train tracks on both sides. There are two pedestrian bridges, one at each end of the platform. These bridges help people cross over the tracks safely. They connect the station to Wakefield Street and Alicetown in the north, and North Street and Petone in the south.

History of Ava Station

How Ava Station Started

Ava station was one of three new stations that opened on 26 May 1927. Back then, this train line was called the Hutt Valley Branch. The station was first called "the Cuba Street station." But it was later named Ava, after another street nearby.

From 1 March 1954, the train route changed. The section of track from Melling to Haywards closed. This made the route through Ava the main way to get to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa region. Ava station used to have extra tracks for storing trains, called sidings. These sidings were removed by 1970. In 1976, the original station building from 1927 was replaced with a new shelter.

Recent Events at the Station

On 8 December 2014, a northbound train had an accident at the station. It hit a power pole that had fallen down. The train got tangled in the overhead power lines. Luckily, no passengers or crew members were hurt. The front of the train was damaged from hitting the pole. Because of this, electric train services between Taitā and Petone were stopped the next day. Workers had to fix three power poles and 150 metres (490 feet) of overhead line.

In February 2016, one of the ramps over the railway needed to be made stronger. This ramp was later damaged during the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake on 14 November. For safety reasons, the ramp was removed in December. This meant that people using wheelchairs could not easily access the station. The other ramp only had stairs. The damaged ramp was rebuilt and opened again in October 2018.

Train Services at Ava

Transdev Wellington runs electric suburban train services on the Hutt Valley Line. These trains go between Wellington and Upper Hutt, stopping at Ava station.

During the day, outside of busy times, trains run often:

• There are 2 trains per hour going to Wellington. These trains stop at all stations along the way.
• There are 2 trains per hour going to Upper Hutt. These trains also stop at all stations.

No Metlink bus routes stop directly at Ava station. However, bus routes 83 and 110 pass very close by.