Manukau Branch

The Manukau Branch is a 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) spur railway line[1] off the North Island Main Trunk railway from Wiri to Manukau City Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the first fully new section of railway line constructed in Auckland since the Eastern Line in 1930.[4] From Manukau, the branch connects to the NIMT in the north facing direction only.

Manukau Branch
The trenched approach to Manukau station, the terminus, seen from the west.
Overview
StatusOpen[1]
OwnerKiwiRail (track and platforms)
Auckland Transport (buildings)
TerminiManukau
Stations1
Service
TypeUrban rail
ServicesEastern Line
Operator(s)Transdev
Rolling stockAM class EMU
Daily ridership1,650 (April 2018)[2]
Technical
Line length2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi)
Track length2.5
Number of tracksTwo
CharacterUrban
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification25 kV AC[3]
Route map

North Island Main Trunk
← Wellington │ Britomart →
 Puhinui
Plunket Ave
Lambie Drive
 Manukau
Enabling works for the future rail line as part of the SH20 project in 2008. Looking west over Lambie Drive from just northwest of the future terminus station.

The estimated cost of the project was $50 million.[1] Construction began in June 2008[5] with completion expected in late 2011.[4][6] However, due to other work on the Auckland network taking priority, completion was re-scheduled for April 2012.[7] Station works were reported essentially finished by October 2011,[8] and the line opened on 15 April 2012.[9]

Route

The branch leaves the NIMT south of Puhinui station and slightly north of the closed Wiri station. It runs on both New Zealand Railways Corporation and Auckland Council land. The NZ Transport Agency built some of the branch's earthworks. The extension of State Highway 20 to State Highway 1 included provision for the route.[10]

Following the opening of the branch, Auckland mayor Len Brown called for the completion of its south facing link to the North Island Main Trunk.[11] The earthwork formation (constructed by NZTA at a cost of approximately $25 million) for such a link is in place, but tracks need to be laid for it at a cost of approximately $1 million, and another $4–5 million would be required to reconfigure the Ports of Auckland/KiwiRail sidings which were built to a design that conflicts with the proposed southern link.[11]

Station
Manukau Station on the first day of services.

The branch has one railway station, Manukau train station, the terminus in Manukau City Centre. The station is intended to move more people into Manukau Central, an area identified by council as a future metropolitan centre.[6]

The station is in (and accessed via) a 300 metres (980 ft) long trench, similar to the New Lynn station, to ease passage under nearby roads. A total of 47,000m2 of earth had been excavated when earthworks finished in May 2010.[4]

The station is located at the heart of a campus for the Manukau Institute of Technology, being below ground level with the campus building constructed above it.[6]

The branch opened on 15 April 2012.[12] After several months in operation, during June 2012 daily usage levels were around 500 to 600 passengers.[13] In April 2018, Manukau was the 11th busiest train station on the Auckland network with an average of 1,650 passengers on a typical weekday.[2]

On 7 April 2018, a 23-bay bus station was opened on a lot adjacent to the train station to create a transport hub serving most of the southern Auckland Region. Services from the facility began the following day.[14][2]

See also

References
  1. Romy Udanga (20 June 2009). "New $50m rail route gets under way". Manukau Courier. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
  2. "Manukau's new bus station opens". Auckland Transport. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  3. "Manukau Rail Link". KiwiRail. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  4. "Manukau's "big dig" finishes early" (PDF). KiwiRail - Project Update Newsletter. June 2010.
  5. "Ontrack told to stick to link timetable". New Zealand Herald. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  6. "Moving people in new directions". LG. New Zealand Local Government. March 2011. p. 9.
  7. Mathew Dearnaley (10 May 2011). "Agencies 'too busy' to open rail link on time". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  8. "Business Report, October 2011" (PDF). Auckland Transport. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  9. "New Auckland rail line opens". Radio New Zealand. 15 April 2012.
  10. "Manukau Extension". Transit New Zealand. Retrieved 28 March 2008.
  11. Mathew Dearnaley (16 April 2012). "Mayor wants link built 'sooner rather than later'". New Zealand Herald.
  12. "City's new rail line set to open". Auckland Now. 22 March 2012.
  13. "Statistics Report: June 2012" (PDF). Auckland Transport. July 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  14. "$49m bus station opens in Manukau". RNZ News. 7 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
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