Johnsonville Branch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Johnsonville Branch in Wellington, New Zealand is a branch line railway that runs from the central Wellington Railway Station to the northern suburb of Johnsonville. It is owned by the Crown and managed by ONTRACK, with services run by Tranz Metro under contract to the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
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[edit] History
The line was built in the 1880s as part of the private Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company line to connect Wellington to existing North Island Main Trunk Railway at Shannon.
The line became a branch when the Tawa Flat deviation was opened to passengers, with the existing line being terminated in Johnsonville, about 100m beyond the end of the current line. (The old railway would have run through to the State Highway One motorway on-ramp.)
The line was electrified in 1938 based on English Electric EMUs operating in a motor/trailer configuration. The line was reviewed in 1984 and 1993 to examine either closing or upgrading the line without any significant changes being made.
The line was used to transport the railway workers from the Tarikaka Settlement in Ngaio into town to operate the main line engines. The workers needed to come very early to fire up the steam locos, and this was the best way to get them to work.
The line carries exclusively passenger services since the termination of freight services to and from an abbatoir in the Ngauranga Gorge (formerly served by sidings near Raroa) in the late 1970s.
[edit] Current Service
The Johnsonville Line is single track built through very steep terrain rising 150 metres above sea level in its 10Km length. It has seven narrow tunnels, four road crossings; six bridges, and three passing loops. The Ruling grade is 5% (1:20). An estimated 1,200 commuters use the line each working day.
There are 9 Stations on the line (Eight Suburban Stations and Wellington Railway Station in the CBD), which are listed on the list of Wellington railway stations.
The seven tunnels are as follows: No. 1 Outlet (126m), No. 2 Kaiwarra (98m), No. 3 Gorge (151m), No. 4 Lizard (199m), No. 5 Ngaio (127m), No. 6 Kaka (104m) and No. 7 Tui (119m). The first five tunnels are located on the section of the line that runs through Wadestown and the Ngaio Gorge. The Kaka tunnel is between the Khandallah and Raroa stations, and the Tui tunnel is a few metres north of the Raroa station.
The level crossings are: Simla Crescent, Station Road/Cashmere Avenue (Khandallah; this is the only crossing with barrier arms as well as bells), Rangoon Street (Khandallah) and Fraser Avenue (south of Raroa).
Major bridges on the line pass over the following roads: Hutt Road (between Wellington Station and the Outlet tunnel), Churchill Drive (just north of the Crofton Downs station), Collingwood Street (north of the Ngaio station) and Awarua Street (just south of the Awarua Street Station).
The first passing loop occurs at Wadestown between the Gorge and Lizard tunnels, while the other two are located at the Ngaio and Khandallah stations. There is no station at the Wadestown loop.
[edit] Future
The Wellington Public Transport Study by the GWRC and WCC considered four options for the future line: Enhanced Rail; Bus-on-Street; conversion to a Guided Busway and conversion to Light Rail. In November 2007 the GWRC Public Transport Committee [1] accepted the recommendation [2] of retaining the line without enhancement by replacing the current units with the EM class units used elsewhere in the Wellington urban rail system, as well as enlarging the tunnels to enable these units to fit. New units under order by the GWRC are to fit the line's profile.
[edit] References
- Churchman, Geoffrey B. ; The Story of The Wellington to Johnsonville Railway, Industrial Publishing Ltd (New Zealand), 1988, ISBN 0-9597832-1-0
[edit] External links
- Johnsonville Line: Photos, Signalling
- North Wellington Public Transport Study
- Railways of New Zealand: Wellington & Manawatu Railway
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