Manukau Branch

Manukau Branch
The west end of the station
Overview
Type	Urban rail
Status	Open[1]
Termini	Manukau City
Stations	1
Operation
Owner	KiwiRail Network and Auckland Transport
Operator(s)	Veolia
Character	Urban
Rolling stock	ADK class DMU ADL class DMU
Technical
Line length	2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi)
Track length	2.5
No. of tracks	Two
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Electrified to 25 kV AC[2]
Route map Legend NIMT towards Britomart Puhinui NIMT towards Wellington 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 Manukau Branch is a 2.5 km spur railway line^[1] from Wiri off the North Island Main Trunk Railway to Manukau City in Auckland, New Zealand, part of ONTRACKs Project DART. It is the first fully new section or railway line constructed in Auckland since the Eastern Line in 1930.^[3]

The estimated cost of the project was $50 million,^[1] with construction having begun June 2008,^[4] and was expected to be completed in late 2011.^[3][5] However, due to other work on the Auckland network taking priority, completion was re-scheduled for April 2012.^[6] Station works were reported essentially finished by October 2011, ^[7] and the line opened on 15 April 2012.^[8]

Route

The branch leaves the NIMT south of Puhinui, slightly north of the closed Wiri Railway Station. The line runs on both New Zealand Railways Corporation and Auckland Council land. 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.^[9]

Southern link

Following the opening of the branch, Auckland Mayor Len Brown called for a link between the branch and the North Island Main Trunk facing southwards.^[10] The formation is in place for such a link (constructed by NZTA at a cost of approximately $25 million), but tracks need to be laid for it, at a cost of approximately $1 million, and $4-5 million to reconfigure the Ports of Auckland/KiwiRail sidings which were built to a design that conflicts with the proposed southern link.^[10]

Station

The Manukau Station, on the First Day of Public Operation.

The line has one railway station at its terminus at the Manukau City Centre.^[9] There was some debate over where the location of the terminal station on the line should be located, with one proposal in the former Manukau City Council carpark, near the Westfield Shopping Centre; and another in Hayman Park.^[4] The Hayman Park site was selected for cost reasons,^[1] though it is located somewhat further away from the main 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. The station is also intended to move more people into Manukau City's central area.^[5]

The station is in (and accessed via) a 300m long trench, similar to the New Lynn Railway Station, to ease passage under nearby roads. A total of 47,000m² of earth had been excavated when the earthworks finished in May 2010.^[3]

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.^[5]

Auckland Transport also intend to build a large carpark building alongside the new station.

The line opened on 15 April 2012.^[11] Auckland mayor Len Brown believes 600,000 people will pass through the Manakau station each year, making it the second busiest in the city after Britomart in the CBD.^[8] After several months in operation, during June 2012 daily usage levels were around 500-600 passengers.^[12]

References

External links

• Project DART - Manukau link