Heritage NZ backs down over colour of Wellington train station ticket machines

Greater Wellington Regional Council wants to trial contactless Snapper cards on one of the city's train lines. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Heritage New Zealand has backed down over its concerns new ticketing machines at Wellington's central train station are not in keeping with the building's colour palette.

Greater Wellington Regional Council wants to trial contactless Snapper cards on the Johnsonville train line. Currently a paper ticket system is used and only cash is accepted on board, which some have labelled a Victorian payment system.

For the 18-month-long trial to go ahead, temporary validator posts need to be installed at the train station so passengers can tag on and off for their journeys.

Correspondence previously released under the Official Information Act showed Heritage New Zealand kicked up a fuss during consultation.

Concerns were raised in June about the posts being intrusive and too bulky. The heritage recommendation was for any new elements to be in keeping with the railway station's historic colours and "recede in prominence ie dark brown, black".

Wellington's central railway station. Photo / Mark Mitchell

But in a letter from July, obtained by the Herald, area manager Alison Dangerfield said Heritage New Zealand fully supported the installation.

"Heritage New Zealand has looked at the proposed validators for the Wellington Railway Station and is of the view that there will be no adverse heritage effects from their installation, size, design or colour."

The letter was attached to KiwiRail's application to Wellington City Council for a waiver to submit an Outline Plan for the validators, under the Resource Management Act.

The waiver was granted.

Asked why Heritage New Zealand had a change of heart, Dangerfield said good consultation occurred.

"Timely and useful consultation between Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga and Metlink is what happened here, over several months.

"Validator design feedback was given from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and others, and the result was an outcome that we have confidence in."

Metlink has compromised on the colour of the ticket validators but they are not Resene Canterbury Clay or Resene ½ Ash, nor will they "recede in prominence ie dark brown, black".

The dark blue and green colours from the Metlink brand palette have been chosen so as not to clash with the surrounding heritage features, in sympathy with Heritage New Zealand.

Plans show the bulk of the validators will be dark blue, with Metlink's lime green colouring used as a border around the machines' screens.

However, it is not necessarily the end of the road for Wellington's latest heritage stoush.

If the trial is successful and Metlink wants to install permanent validators, this will have to be subject to further consultation with Heritage New Zealand with respect to size, design, colour, location, number and scale.