Melling, New Zealand

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Melling is a suburb of Lower Hutt, to the north of Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand. It is on the west bank of the Hutt River, on State Highway 2, the Wellington-Hutt main road, and directly across the river from the centre of Lower Hutt. It is also the name of the three-lane bridge connecting the Hutt City central business district with State Highway 2, a route subject to extensive congestion at peak times. From the Melling Bridge it is possible to drive straight ahead into the hill suburbs of Harbour View and Tirohanga (Maori for "distant view").Improved interchanges are planned for the Melling and Kennedy-Good bridges.Melling LineThe Melling Railway Station is the terminus of the Melling Line which provides a suburban commuter service to Wellington. This line was originally part of the Hutt Valley Line through to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa, but became a separate (electrified) branch line on 1 March 1954, when the section north of Melling to Haywards (now Manor Park) was closed and replaced by a new double-tracked line on the eastern side of the Hutt River (the old Melling-Haywards section could not be double-tracked).Melling is a surname, and the name of three places, two in England and one in New Zealand. The surname derives from the two English places.