Services consisted exclusively of trains for patrons of race meetings of the Wellington Trotting Club at the Hutt Park Racecourse.

In particular, there were at the time no sidings at the site, limiting train operations and frequency, and neither was the department prepared to construct a platform for passengers.

The Railways Department charged a flat rate for travel to the raceway including admission, with the entrance fee being remitted to the club.

Increased use of the Gracefield Branch for shunting operations for Hutt Workshops necessitated a change in working practices on the line in 1929.

Usage of the service eventually fell away, due mainly to increased use of road transport and decreased attendance at the race meetings, to the point where, in the 1940s, it was no longer economical to operate the trains.

It was expected that the new format would lead to increased and stable attendance, justifying the resumption of the race trains and the installation of new facilities at Hutt Park railway station site to handle the traffic.

The club had agreed to arrange for the access between the railway line and the race track, and to provide the necessary lighting, while the cost to the department was estimated to be £2,500.

Two days before this meeting, on 25 February, an electric multiple unit train was run to Hutt Park to test the new facilities, including the recently finished platform.

As before the Railways Department sold integrated race meeting tickets, providing transport from either Wellington or Upper Hutt to the racecourse and admission.

Patronage of the race trains for the first season, 1960, was considered disappointing, especially given the rosy projections from the club for attendance numbers and the exposure given to the service in the local media.

A 1975 report from the Railways Department into the possibility of a rail link for Wainuiomata suggested a route that involved the extension of the Gracefield Branch line through a three-kilometre tunnel.

The report mentioned various additional facilities that would be required to operate such a suburban service, including the need for a station in the Gracefield area.