Masterton – Palmerston North passenger trains ceased from Monday, 1 August 1988 with the last such service running on Friday, 29 July. In the 1990s, the service between Masterton and Wellington was rebranded as the Wairarapa Connection and presently operates five times each way weekdays (with a sixth service in the evening on Fridays), and twice each way on weekends and public holidays. In 2007, eighteen new SW class carriages were introduced to replace the 56ft carriages used since the service's inception; in 2013, they were joined by the six SE class to relieve capacity constraints especially on evening services. The Wellington Metro Rail Upgrade project (2020-2021) started in November 2019; and is expected to take eighteen months and cost $300 million. The single-track Trentham-Upper Hutt section will be double-tracked and equipped for bi-directional signalling so that trains can run on either track in either direction between Upper Hutt and Trentham (and possibly later to Heretaunga). Signalling, track and three bridges will be renewed, and a longer loop at Upper Hutt will hold longer Wairarapa log trains. The work is expected to improve the operation of both suburban passenger trains to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa Connection. Freight services Until the acquisition of the WMR in December 1908, all NZR freight out of Wellington was carried on the Wairarapa Line. As soon as the western route became available, all freight that could be diverted off the Wairarapa Line was diverted, due to the difficulties created by the Rimutaka Incline. This meant that even some traffic from the northern Wairarapa was sent through the Manawatu Gorge and down the west coast to Wellington. The opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel made the line more desirable for through freight traffic, but as localised freight gave way to containerised inter-city freight in the 1980s, the significance of the Wairarapa Line declined, especially on the section north of Masterton. KiwiRail is currently investigating a log shipment hub in Masterton that would mean log traffic would use the northern portion of the Wairarapa Line, from Masterton to Napier. In February 2012, it was reported that the total freight carried on the northern section of the line had increased from 74,031 tonnes in 2009 to 97,139 tonnes in 2011, although this figure was inflated by a ten-day closure of the Manawatu Gorge section of the railway line due to a slip. Presently freight services operate at each