Southern Line
Overview
OwnerKiwiRail (tracks and platforms), Auckland Transport (trains and buildings)
LocaleAuckland, New Zealand
Termini
Connecting linesEastern, Onehunga, Western
Stations17
Service
TypeCommuter Rail
SystemAT Metro
Operator(s)Auckland One Rail
Rolling stockAM class (Britomart – Papakura), ADL class (Papakura – Pukekohe)
Technical
Line length49.62 km (30.83 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead (Britomart – Papakura)
Route map
0.0
 Britomart Transport Centre (Auckland)
Quay Park junction
 The Strand
 Eastern Line junction
 Ronayne Street
 State Highway 16
 Parnell Rise
 Parnell
 343m Parnell Tunnel
 Cowie Street
 Western Line junction
3.7
 Newmarket
 Remuera Road
 Newmarket Viaduct (SH1)
4.8
 Remuera
 Market Road
 Omahu Road
 Green Lane
6.2
 Greenlane
 Mitchelson Street
 Walpole Street
 Main Highway
7.6
 Ellerslie
 Ellerslie-Panmure Highway
 Great South Road
 Onehunga Branch
9.1
 Penrose
 to Onehunga via Te Papapa
 South-Eastern Highway
 Southdown Freight Centre
 Westfield Junction
 Railway Lane
 Ōtāhuhu
 Kaka Street
 Mangere Road
 Middlemore
 Papatoetoe
 St George Street
 Bridge Street
 Puhinui
 Cavendish Drive
 Manukau Branch
 to Manukau
 State Highway 20
 Wiri Station Road
 Homai
 Browns Road
 Jutland Road
 Station Road
 Manurewa
 Weymouth Road
 Great South Road
 Te Mahia
 Southern Motorway (State Highway 1)
 Spartan Road
 Manuroa Road
 Takaanini
 Taka Street
 Walters Road
 Subway Road
 Clevedon Road
33.1
 Papakura
 Papakura-Pukekohe shuttle
 (intermediate crossings not shown)
 Mission Bush Branch
 (intermediate crossings not shown)
51.3
 Pukekohe
 NIMT

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.

Routing

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.

History

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.

Third Main Line

A future third main line is under construction as part of the Wiri to Quay Park project announced in 2017; work started in 2020 and is to be completed by 2024. [1] 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.[2] The new line would be between Westfield and Wiri.[3]

These improvements will avoid an estimated 175,000 annual freight movements on the state highway network. Work began at the end of 2020. The $315 million funding package for these works was announced as part of the Government's New Zealand Upgrade Programme.

Electrification and new stations

Along with the rest of Auckland's suburban railway network, the Southern Line was electrified from Britomart to Papakura, with electric services beginning in 2014. Services between Pukekohe and Papakura are still provided by diesel multiple units (DMUs). In 2020, as part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, the government announced $371 million in funding to extend electrification from Papakura to Pukekohe. The project is due for completion in 2024.[4][5]

As part of the Pukekohe electrification project, new stations are to be built at Drury, Ngākōroa and Paerātā.[4]

Services

Suburban services are operated by Auckland One Rail under the AT Metro brand.

Stations on the line

Stations in grey are closed or no longer served by the Southern Line.

StationKm from Auckland[6]Height above sea level (m)Current status
Britomart Transport Centre0 km4m below sea levelLocated 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.[7]
Auckland0 km3Located 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.
ParnellOpened 12-03-2017. Located on the western side of Parnell shops near the old Mainline Steam site on Cheshire St.
Newmarket2.5353Open (Four platform junction station).
Remuera4.0481Open. Uses 1902-era Troup-designed station and signal box.
Greenlane5.5357Open
Ellerslie Racecourse Platform5.850Closed. Platforms still exist.
Ellerslie6.9631Open
Penrose8.4423Open
Southdown10.264.2Closed 2004
Westfield11.277.6Closed March 2017.[8]
Ōtāhuhu12.519.44Open
Mangere13.2810.66Closed
Middlemore14.338.8Open
Papatoetoe16.1318Open
Puhinui17.6619.8Open
Wiri19.0422.25Closed 2005
Homai20.8830.78Open
Manurewa22.7717Open
Te Mahia24.2914.9Open
Takaanini25.915.2Open
Tironui27.5615.5Closed 1980. Proposal for new station nearby at Walters Road lodged 2012.
Papakura29.4219.2Open. 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.

StationKm from Auckland[6]Height above sea level (m)Current status
Papakura29.4219.2Open. Terminus for diesel train shuttle service.
Opaheke31.9214.5Closed 1955. Known as "Hunua" until 1939.
Drury34.819Closed 1972. Proposal to re-open lodged 2012.
Runciman368Closed 1918
Paerata43.3145.1Closed 1980
Pukekohe47.860.65Open. Terminus for diesel train shuttle service. Closed for redevelopment from 13 August 2022 to late 2024.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Third Main Line". KiwiRail. 2023.
  2. ↑ "Agenda for a meeting of the Infrastructure Committee - 5.9 Hamilton to Auckland Passenger Rail – Progress Update and Future Direction" (PDF). Waikato District Council. 27 June 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "The Third Main Line". KiwiRail. 2023.
  4. 1 2 Coughlan, Thomas (29 January 2020). "Government announces billions of infrastructure spending, with roads the big winner". Stuff. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. ↑ "Electric trains to Pukekohe". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  6. 1 2 New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
  7. ↑ "Britomart Transport Interchange, Auckland: Alterations and strengthening of the former Chief Post Office" (PDF). Opus International Consultants. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Westfield Station closing permanently from 12 March 2017". Auckland Transport. 14 March 2017. Archived from the original on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Pukekohe Station Closure". Auckland Transport. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
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