Masterton

Masterton is the main town in the Wairarapa region of the North Island of New Zealand.

Understand
Masterton and nearby Greytown were established in 1854 by the Wairarapa Small Farms Association. The association was led by Joseph Masters, after whom the town is named. Masterton gained borough status in 1877, and the railway from Wellington arrived in November 1880. In 2021, the town was home to 21,800 people, with another 6,400 living in the surrounding rural areas.



By car
State Highway 2 passes through the middle of Masterton en route between Wellington and the Hawke's Bay. There is a signposted heavy traffic bypass for those passing through and wanting to avoid central Masterton. State Highway 2 from Wellington passes over Remutaka Pass via the Rimutaka Hill Road, a busy and winding 15 km road with a poor accident record, so take extra care.

Distance and times (non-stop):
 * Wellington - 100 km (1 hr 30 min)
 * Palmerston North - 110 km (1 hr 25 min)
 * Hastings - 210 km (2 hr 30 min)
 * Auckland - 610 km (7 hr 15 min)

By train
Metlink train services run between Wellington and Masterton five times daily on weekdays and twice daily on weekends each way, taking around 95 minutes. There are no reserved seats but there is a luggage compartment and bicycles can be carried. Tickets can be purchased at a station ticket office (cash or EFTPOS) or onboard the train (cash only). The standard adult single fare from Wellington is $18.

There are three stations serving Masterton:, , and. Masterton is the main station and the closest to the town centre, and is staffed for 30 minutes prior to each Wellington-bound departure. Solway and Renall Street are non-staffed; Solway is mainly a park 'n' ride station located in a semi-rural area serving southern Masterton, while Renall Street serves the nearby residential areas.

By bus
A regular public bus service operating six days a week (no service Sunday or public holidays) connects Masterton with Carterton, Greytown, Featherston and Martinborough to the south. Tranzit Coachlines operates a bus service between Palmerston North and Masterton three times per week.

By plane
There have been no air services to Masterton since February 2014. The nearest airports with scheduled air services are in Wellington and Palmerston North.

Get around
Central Masterton has three main streets parallel to each other; Chapel Street (SH 2) to the west, Queen Street in the middle and Dixon Street to the east. Most of the major commercial and retail facilities in Masterton are on one of these three streets.

Masterton is reasonably flat, so walking and cycling around the town are viable options.

A shopper bus service operates within the town between 9AM and 3:15PM on weekdays rotating between four routes: South (202), West (201), Lansdowne (203) and East (206).

Eat
All three major supermarket chains have a presence in Masterton: Pak'n Save (cnr Queen & Crayne Sts, Kuripuni), Countdown (cnr Queen St & Worksop Rd), and New World (cnr Dixon & Bruce Sts). Most of the national fast food chains have presence in Masterton: Burger King, Domino's, McDonald's, Pita Pit and Subway are within a short distance of each other on Chapel Street between Lincoln Road and King Street, while Hell Pizza (276 Queen Street), KFC (cnr Chapel & Crayne Sts, Kuripuni), and Pizza Hut (89 Chapel Street) are also present.



Stay safe
Accident & emergency is located at on Te Ore Ore Road, Lansdowne. In an emergency, dial 111 for an ambulance.



Go next

 * South to Carterton and Martinborough
 * North to Woodville, then turn left for Palmerston North or right for Dannevirke
 * Southwest to the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington