Metlink is offering free travel to all passengers travelling on all bus and train services on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

Bus passengers can tag on and off with their Snapper at no cost. Those visiting or without a Snapper card simply need to let the driver know where they’re going and will be given a $0 ticket.

Those travelling on the Johnsonville line as part of the Snapper on Rail trial can also tag on without being charged. Train passengers travelling on any other line can simply board and ride for free.

Both Christmas Eve train and bus services will run to their usual weekday timetables.

On Christmas Day bus services will run to a standard Sunday timetable in Wellington City, Hutt Valley, Porirua and Kāpiti, and the Route 200 in the Wairarapa to a special timetable.

On New Year’s Eve bus services will run to a standard Saturday timetable in Wellington City, Hutt Valley, Porirua and Kāpiti and to a special timetable in the Wairarapa.

On Christmas Day train services on the Johnsonville and Hutt Valley lines will run to standard Sunday timetables. There will be no Melling or Wairarapa Line services. The Kāpiti Line will be replaced by bus.

On New Year’s Eve, train services on the Johnsonville, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa lines will run to standard Saturday timetables. The Melling Line will run hourly from 06:00am to 6:00pm. The Kāpiti Line will be replaced by bus.

East by West ferries are not included in the offer.

There’s no place like home for the holidays and with a likely influx of visitors to the region, the offer, extended this year to include Christmas Eve, is all about connecting family and friends for the festive season.

On including Christmas Eve in the offer this year, Scott Gallacher, Metlink’s General Manager explained “the day before Christmas means the roads will be busy and possibly quite frantic. Free travel on Metlink services means people can get home to each other safely and stress free before the special day or even for a last minute present finding mission to the shops.

“Tis the season for being together with loved ones and on the back of another year with less face to face family time, we wanted to help people re-connect on the big day and get home safely on the big night with free public transport across the region”.

A very Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year from all of us at Metlink. Thank you all for your continued support throughout the year.” added Gallacher.

Christmas and New Year travellers can download a copy of the special timetable and find out more about Metlink services over the Christmas/New Year period at metlink.org.nz/christmas2021

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