Southern Line | |
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Overview | |
Type | Commuter Rail |
System | AT Metro |
Status | Active |
Locale | Auckland, New Zealand |
Termini | Britomart Papakura (electric), Pukekohe (diesel shuttle) |
Connecting lines | Eastern, Onehunga, Western |
Stations | 17 |
Operation | |
Owner | KiwiRail (tracks and platforms), Auckland Transport (trains and buildings) |
Operator(s) | Transdev Auckland under the AT brand |
Rolling stock | AM class (Britomart – Papakura), ADL class (Papakura – Pukekohe) |
Technical | |
Line length | 49.62 km (30.83 mi) |
Number of tracks | 2 |
Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
Electrification | 25 kV AC overhead (Britomart – Papakura) |
Southern Line route map | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Southern Line in Auckland, New Zealand is the name given to suburban train services that operate between Britomart Transport Centre in central Auckland and Pukekohe via Newmarket.
From Britomart to Newmarket, Southern Line services use the Newmarket Line, then follow the North Auckland Line to Westfield Junction, and from thence onto the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) line as far as Pukekohe, the terminus of the Southern Line. In its entirety, this line follows the original 1875 North Island Main Trunk route between central Auckland and Pukekohe.
The line, originally single-tracked, was duplicated, piecemeal, between 1909 and 1939. In 1915, the original single-track Parnell tunnel was bypassed by a twin-track tunnel. The older tunnel can be seen alongside the current one, between Parnell station and Newmarket Junction.
A future Third Main Line is envisaged as part of the Wiri to Quay Park project announced in 2017, which is to start in 2020 and be completed in 2024. It is expected to ease congestion on Auckland rail lines by allowing "through" trains to pass stationary trains at stations, improve rail freight access from the Port of Auckland to the Westfield yards and allow more frequent passenger and freight services. [1] [2] The new line would be between Westfield and Wiri.
These improvements will avoid an estimated 175,000 annual freight movements on the state highway network. Work is expected to begin at the end of 2020 and will be divided into four areas outlined below. The $315 million funding package for these works was announced as part of the Government's New Zealand Upgrade Programme. [1]
In 1930, the Westfield Deviation opened a new eastern route for the NIMT between Auckland and Westfield via Glen Innes. The route between Auckland and Westfield via Newmarket then ceased to be part of the NIMT. The portion between Newmarket and Westfield became part of the North Auckland Line (NAL), which runs between Westfield and Whangarei.
The Southern Line suburban services continued to run on the older route. A new line, called the Eastern Line, was introduced for services on the new route. While the Eastern and Southern lines have a different route between Auckland and Westfield, they share the same tracks between Westfield and Puhinui station.
New stations have been proposed at Walters Road and Drury, and are currently being sought by the Papakura Local Board.
Suburban services are operated by Transdev under the AT Metro brand.
Station | Km from Auckland [3] | Height above sea level (m) | Current status |
---|---|---|---|
Britomart Transport Centre | 0 km | 4m below sea level | Located beneath the site of the 1885-1930 Queen Street station. Open. New Zealand's second underground station. At this location Point Britomart station opened 24-12-1873 and closed 29-11-1885 and Queen Street station opened 30-11-1885 and closed 16-11-1930. New Zealand's lowest public point. [4] |
Auckland | 0 km | 3 | Located on Beach Road, Parnell. Opened 17-12-1930. Closed July 2003. Former Platform 7 renamed Strand Railway Station and retained for excursion services, and later, the Northern Explorer. |
Parnell | Opened 12-03-2017. Located on the western side of Parnell shops near the old Mainline Steam site on Cheshire St. | ||
Newmarket | 2.53 | 53 | Open (Four platform junction station). |
Remuera | 4.04 | 81 | Open. Uses 1902-era Troup-designed station and signal box. |
Greenlane | 5.53 | 57 | Open |
Ellerslie Racecourse Platform | 5.8 | 50 | Closed. Platforms still exist. |
Ellerslie | 6.96 | 31 | Open |
Penrose | 8.44 | 23 | Open |
Southdown | 10.26 | 4.2 | Closed 2004 |
Westfield | 11.27 | 7.6 | Closed March 2017. [5] |
Otahuhu | 12.51 | 9.44 | Open |
Mangere | 13.28 | 10.66 | Closed |
Middlemore | 14.33 | 8.8 | Open |
Papatoetoe | 16.13 | 18 | Open |
Papatoitoi | 16.95 | 18.9 | Closed 1904 |
Puhinui | 17.66 | 19.8 | Closed (Closed until 2021 for upgrades) [6] |
Wiri | 19.04 | 22.25 | Closed 2005 |
Homai | 20.88 | 30.78 | Open |
Manurewa | 22.49 | 28.34 | Closed |
Manurewa | 22.77 | 17 | Open |
Te Mahia | 24.29 | 14.9 | Open. |
Takanini | 25.9 | 15.2 | Open |
Tironui | 27.56 | 15.5 | Closed 1980. Proposal for new station nearby at Walters Road lodged 2012. |
Papakura | 29.42 | 19.2 | Open. Terminus for electric unit services. |
The following section of unelectrified track is served by a diesel train shuttle service. Papakura is the transfer hub between services.
Station | Km from Auckland [7] | Height above sea level (m) | Current status |
---|---|---|---|
Papakura | 29.42 | 19.2 | Open. Terminus for diesel train shuttle service. |
Opaheke | 31.92 | 14.5 | Closed 1955. Known as "Hunua" until 1939. |
Drury | 34.81 | 9 | Closed 1972. Proposal to re-open lodged 2012. |
Runciman | 36 | 8 | Closed 1918 |
Paerata | 43.31 | 45.1 | Closed 1980 |
Pukekohe | 47.8 | 60.65 | Open. Terminus for diesel train shuttle service. |
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is 682 kilometres (424 mi) long and passes through Paraparaumu, Palmerston North, Taihape, National Park, Taumarunui, Te Kuiti, Hamilton, and Pukekohe.
Westfield railway station was a station of the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. The station closed to all services on 12 March 2017, following an announcement by Auckland Transport on 17 January 2017, because fewer than 330 passengers used it daily and it required a costly upgrade.
Newmarket railway station is a station in the inner-city suburb of Newmarket in Auckland, New Zealand. It serves the Southern, Onehunga and Western Lines of the Auckland railway network, and is the second-busiest station in Auckland, after Britomart.
Transdev Auckland, formerly Veolia Transport Auckland, Ltd., and before that Connex Auckland, Ltd., is a Transdev Australasia company. It runs Auckland's urban passenger trains under contract from Auckland Transport on infrastructure owned and managed by KiwiRail. Auckland Transport receives funding to subsidise these services from the NZ Transport Agency, which receives funding from road user taxes and Crown appropriations, and from the Auckland Council through rates. Since July 2016 Wellington's commuter rail services are also operated by Transdev, as Transdev Wellington.
Papatoetoe railway station is on the Southern Line and Eastern Line of the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. It is between Station Road and Shirley Road, across the street from Papatoetoe West School, and has an island platform layout.
Ōtāhuhu railway station is located on the Eastern and Southern Lines of the Auckland rail network in New Zealand. It has an island platform configuration and is part of an integrated bus-train major transport hub. It can be reached by steps and elevator from an overhead concourse that leads from the adjacent bus transfer station and Walmsley Road.
Middlemore railway station is on the Southern Line and Eastern Line of the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. The station has side platforms on the northbound and southbound lines connected by a pedestrian level crossing at the south end of the platforms. Access to the station is via Hospital Road: it is next to Middlemore Hospital.
Puhinui railway station is a temporarily-closed station of the Auckland rail network and is located near Papatoetoe, Auckland, New Zealand. Passenger services on the Eastern Line and Southern Line use the station. It has an island platform and an enclosed shelter relocated from Papatoetoe station. It is accessed from Puhinui Road from both sides of the tracks via a pedestrian bridge located at the site of a former level crossing. This is the nearest public transport access to the main cemetery for South Auckland; Manukau cemetery at 361 Puhinui Road, Wiri.
The Newmarket Line is a railway line in Auckland, New Zealand, that runs between Quay Park Junction, near Britomart Transport Centre, and Newmarket Train Station. It is 2.64 km long. It connects the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT), which runs from the east into Britomart via the waterfront, and the North Auckland Line (NAL), which runs between Westfield Junction and Otiria via Newmarket and Whangarei. It has been named the Newmarket Line since 2011. From 1996 to 2011, it was named the Auckland–Newmarket Line, as it ran from Auckland Railway Station until the station closed in 2003. From 1977 to 1996, it was named the Newmarket Branch Railway.
Papakura railway station is on the Southern Line of the Auckland railway network in New Zealand.
Pukekohe railway station in the township of Pukekohe is the southern terminus of the Southern Line of the Auckland railway network. The station has an island platform between the main lines and an original wooden station building complete with signal panel.
Public transport in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area of New Zealand, consists of three modes: bus, train and ferry. Services are coordinated by Auckland Transport under the AT Metro brand. Britomart Transport Centre is the main transport hub.
The Eastern Line is the name of the suburban rail service in Auckland, New Zealand between Britomart and Manukau via the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and Manukau Branch. Services are operated by Transdev under the AT brand.
Auckland railway electrification occurred in phases as part of investment in a new infrastructure for Auckland's urban railway network. Electrification of the network had been proposed for several decades. Installation started in the late 2000s after funds were approved from a combination of regional and central government budgets.
Quay Park is a junction on the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. It normally links Britomart with Newmarket station for Western Line, Southern Line, and Onehunga Line services, which use a common set of tracks between Britomart and Newmarket. The Strand station has been closed to suburban train services since the opening of Britomart in 2003 and is now used as the terminus for the Auckland–Wellington Northern Explorer service via the North Island Main Trunk line and for chartered excursions. The junction can be switched in order to use The Strand as a backup for Britomart if required.
The New Zealand AM class of electric multiple unit (EMU) was constructed for the electrification of Auckland's railway network. The class was introduced in 2014 with the first unit having arrived in September 2013. The units are classified AM, with the driving motor car with pantograph classified AMP, the middle trailer car AMT and the driving motor car without pantograph AMA. The trains are operated by Transdev Auckland for Auckland Transport under the AT Metro brand.
Railway electrification in New Zealand consists of three separate electric systems, all in the North Island. Electrification was initially adopted by the New Zealand Railways for long tunnels; the Otira Tunnel, the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel and the two Tawa Tunnels of the Tawa Flat Deviation. Electrification of Wellington suburban services started with the Johnsonville Line and Kapiti Line out of Wellington from the 1930s. Auckland suburban services were electrified in 2014–2015. Electrification of long-distance services on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) dates from 1986. New long tunnels, for example the Rimutaka Tunnel and the Kaimai Tunnel, were operated by diesels, and the Otira and Lyttelton Tunnels have converted to diesel operation.
Westfield Junction is a railway switching junction on the Auckland railway network in New Zealand. It is 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of Otahuhu station and is surrounded by the industrial area of Westfield.
Te Huia is a planned passenger train service between Hamilton and Papakura. It will be a five year trial with subsidies from the NZ Transport Agency and Waikato local authorities, with the service to commence some time in November 2020.