| Manukau Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The train station trench under construction. |
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| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Urban rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Under construction[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | Manukau City | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | KiwiRail Network, Auckland Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | Veolia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | Urban | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. of tracks | Two | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Manukau Branch is a 2.5 km spur railway line currently (2011) under construction[1] from Wiri off the North Island Main Trunk Railway to Manukau City in Auckland, New Zealand, part of ONTRACKs Project DART. It will be the first fully new section or railway line constructed in Auckland since the Eastern Line in 1930.[2]
The estimated cost is $50 million,[1] with construction having begun June 2008,[3] and was expected to be completed in late 2011.[2][4] However, due to other work on the Auckland network taking priority, completion is now scheduled for February 2012.[5] Station works were reported essentially finished by October 2011.[6]
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The branch leaves the NIMT south of Puhinui, slightly north of the closed Wiri Train Station. The line runs on both KiwiRail Network and Manukau City Council (from October 2010 Auckland Council) land, and the New Zealand Transport Agency has built some of the line's earthworks. The extension of State Highway 20 to State Highway 1 included provision for the route.[7]
The line is to have one station, at its terminus at Manukau City Centre.[7] There was some debate as to where the terminal station on the line would be located, with one proposal near the Westfield Shopping Centre and another next to Hayman Park.[3] The Hayman Park site was selected for cost reasons,[1] though it is located somewhat further away from the shopping centre. The station will be integrated via escalators with a bus station for up to eight buses, to form a local transport hub serving most of the southern Auckland Region, and the station is also intended to move more people into Manukau City's central area.[4]
The station will be in (and accessed via) a 300m long trench, similar to the already constructed New Lynn Train Station, to ease passage under nearby roads. A total of 47,000m2 of earth had been excavated when the earthworks finished in May 2010.[2]
The station will be located at the heart of a new campus for the Manukau Institute of Technology, with part of the station actually being in / under a campus building to be constructed above it.[4]