What?s that ugly thing beside the harbour?
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
KiwiRail is in the midst of building 11 new substations to add reliability to the rail system before the new ?Matangi trains? arrive from South Korea. Substations will be built in; Kaiwharawhara, Ngaio, Lower Hutt, Woburn, Silverstream, Paremata, and Otaihanga Rd. The substation causing the biggest stir is parked right beside Porirua?s harbour. KiwiRail Group communications advisor Ruth Larsen says they have, ?tried to be discreet with where they are placed?. ?Power will still be supplied through overhead electricity, but the old system badly needed an upgrade. ?Most of the substations have been built on railway land, and the one in Paramata needed to be built in that location,? she says. Keep Porirua Beautiful coordinator John Poppleton says KiwiRail will be installing these ?monstrous? substations throughout the county during their track upgrades. ?If they are replicated elsewhere that won?t be good, because if they?re ugly in Wellington they will be ugly elsewhere,? says Mr Poppleton. He says KiwiRail is ?not totally blind? in installing the substations, as they are planning to build visual-pacifiers such as a stone walls and place LED lights on the final product. ?I don?t see how they didn?t expect not to annoy so many people by building a monstrosity on the harbour. ?It should have involved more consultation, it?s all about the consultation these days,? he says. Ms Larsen says the Paramata substation is particularly noticeable, but it has to be situated in that location. ?We are talking with the Porirua City Council about suitable landscaping, and a stonewall will be built around it to add some finishing touches,? she says. Disruptions to the rail network are part and parcel of the upgrade process, and measures are being taken to keep public transport moving, says Ms Larsen. ?We are providing buses, and trying to work in the weekend as much as possible. ?In the end there will be greater continuity for train services, they won?t be faster but more reliable.? The Greater Wellington City Council and KiwiRail want to finish upgrading the line to Kapiti by 2010.
