Mangatainoka is from the bridge and the railway reached it in August 1897, and the line was finally opened to Woodville and a junction with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line on 11 December 1897. Branch Lines Four branch lines diverge from the Wairarapa Line: the Melling Branch and the Gracefield Branch to Hutt Workshops, both still open; the Greytown Branch, closed in 1953, and the Hutt Park Railway, which ceased serving its intended purpose in 1906 but survived in truncated form as an industrial siding until 1982. At one time a branch line to Martinborough was proposed but this line never eventuated. Deviations Several upgrades and alterations to the Wairarapa Line have been made, but only the Western Hutt and Rimutaka tunnel deviations have significantly altered its route. Hutt deviation In 1925, construction began on what was then known as the Hutt Valley Branch, leaving the main line just north of Petone station and running east to Waterloo, opening on 26 May 1927. After World War II, new state housing suburbs developed north of Waterloo, and the railway was extended to serve them. In 1954, it re-joined the western line south of Manor Park and superseded the old route. On 1 March 1954 the former Hutt Valley Branch became part of the Wairarapa Line. The western route was truncated into the Melling Branch from Petone, with the Lower Hutt railway station becoming the Western Hutt railway station. Silversteam deviation The deviation included a new bridge across the Hutt River, replacing a section of line now used by Silver Stream Railway Rimutaka deviation The Rimutaka Incline was difficult, costly and time-consuming to operate, but as the Wairarapa Line had become a secondary route since the acquisition of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway in 1908, its replacement was not a priority. Various alternate systems and routes were debated, with a tunnel chosen in 1936. However, the economic conditions left from the Great Depression followed by the impact of World War II meant that work on the tunnel did not start until 1948. The Incline and the line up the western side of the Rimutakas closed on 29 October 1955 and the tunnel opened on 3 November 1955. Operation Passenger services When the full line opened in 1897, passenger services from the Hutt Valley to Wellington were augmented by NZR's first express from Wellington, the Napier Express (the WMR had operated the