This is an accepted version of this page
| Onehunga Branch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 ADL 810 diesel unit atOnehunga Railway Station, with electrification infrastructure partially installed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | KiwiRail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | Urban rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | Auckland One Rail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rolling stock | AM class | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Daily ridership | 1200/day[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened |
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| Closed |
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| Reopened | 18 September 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line length | 3.6 km (2.2 mi)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | Single | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character | Urban | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Electrification | 25 kV 50 Hz AC[3][4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating speed | 60 km/h (37 mph) maximum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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TheOnehunga Branch railway line is a section of theOnehunga Line inAuckland, New Zealand. It was constructed by theAuckland Provincial Government and opened fromPenrose toOnehunga on 24 December 1873,[5] and extended to Onehunga Wharf on 28 November 1878. It is 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) in length[2] and is single-track only.
After being closed to passenger traffic on 19 January 1973[6] and mothballed in 2007, the line was reopened on 18 September 2010 with regular passenger services beginning on 19 September 2010.[2][7]
The Onehunga Branch was part of one of the first government-funded railways in New Zealand. The Auckland and Drury Railway Act 1863 was passed by Parliament "to enable the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland to construct a Railway between the Towns of Auckland and Drury with a Branch to Onehunga in the said Province."[8] Along with a further 10 km north to Auckland (now part of theNorth Auckland Line and theNewmarket Line), the Onehunga Branch was the first operating section of the railways in theNorth Island.
Construction began in 1865 under the auspices ofAuckland's provincial government, tostandard gauge,4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm), but due to a lack of funds and disputes between the government and the contractors building the line, construction stalled two years later. The line featured inJulius Vogel's 1870Great Public Works programme and construction resumed in 1872, to New Zealand's newnarrow gauge of3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm). With the dissolution of theprovinces of New Zealand, the line was integrated into the state-run system on the creation of theNew Zealand Railways Department.[9]
Connecting the Port of Onehunga with Penrose and hence the port of Auckland, the line became a busy link between the two harbours of the rapidly expanding city. Onehunga was a busy port despite its treacherous harbour entrance and was well served by coastal shipping, some of which plied toNew Plymouth. With the completion of theWellington and Manawatu Railway Company'srailway line in 1886, passengers from Auckland to Wellington rode a "Boat Train" from Auckland to Onehunga, connected with a steamer to New Plymouth, then theNew Plymouth Express to Wellington. The boat trains ran to the wharf and in 1878 a small station was sited there and remained in use until 1927. By 1897 there were 14 trains daily, both passenger andmixed trains.
In 1903, electrictrams were introduced between Auckland and Onehunga, running along Manukau Road, resulting in a significant drop in passenger patronage on the branch line. Also, Auckland and Wellington were directly connected by rail with the first scheduled services in February 1909 on theNorth Island Main Trunk line. The boat trains finished in the 1920s and the through service from Auckland to Onehunga in 1950, but passenger services from Penrose ran until April 1973. The line then served local industries until it was mothballed. Freight shunts continued to operate as far as Mays Rd until late 2007 and an annual enthusiasts excursion withADL class DMU ran until 2006. Three visits bySilver Fernrailcars occurred in 1996, 1999 and 2000. The last steam trains before closure was a series of excursions over Labour Weekend 1993 with a tank engine and carriages fromGlenbrook Vintage Railway. JA 1275 ran shuttle trains withDC 4536 on 18 September 2010 to celebrate the reopening of the line, before regular passenger services commenced the next day.
The originalOnehunga Railway Station was on the corner of Princes Street and Onehunga Mall. The old station building has been relocated to 38 Alfred Street, not far away. It is owned by theRailway Enthusiasts Society, and used as their clubrooms and a railway museum. Other stations were atTe Papapa andOnehunga Wharf.
The campaign to reopen the line was launched byAuckland Regional Council (ARC) councillorMike Lee in mid-2002. The cause was taken up byCampaign for Better Transport. Lee and CBT's concept was to rebuild the line, with new stations at Mount Smart, Te Papapa and Onehunga, and in mid-2006 CBT had received 8,000 signatures on a petition to reopen the line.[10]
The petition was presented to the ARC, which formally endorsed it and passed it to its subsidiary,ARTA, recommending that passenger services should be started to both Onehunga and to Helensville. The petition was later handed back by ARTA to the ARC, with ARTA stating that the track was the responsibility of government track organisation, ONTRACK (now part ofKiwiRail). The petition was presented to Parliament's Transport and Labour Relations Select Committee by Lee as Chairman of the ARC. On 13 March 2007 the Government announced that it had given approval for ONTRACK to spend $10 million on reopening the line for passengers and freight. As part of the rehabilitation work a private siding was built at the Owens truck depot.[11]
In August 2007, coastal shipping firm Pacifica Shipping called for the section of the line between Onehunga Wharf and the end of the line at thePort of Onehunga to be reopened,[12] to allow for export freight from the South Island to be unloaded at the wharf and transferred by rail to thePorts of Auckland on theWaitematā Harbour. Currently the freight is carried by road to the port, leading to delays due to traffic. A full freight service reopening could potentially remove around 200 containers to and 250 containers from the port per week from the local streets.[13]
In 2009, the locations of stations on the branch were still to be determined by ARTA and ONTRACK.[14] It was also unclear in May 2009 whether the reopened line would reach as far as Onehunga Mall (as originally planned) and it was noted that continuation to the port of Onehunga would depend onPorts of Auckland's willingness to fund a terminal within its land.[15] However, detailed design forTe Papapa andMount Smart stations was underway.[16]
On 24 June 2009, ARTA and theNZ Transport Agency (NZTA) agreed to jointly fund three stations on the branch – Mount Smart, Te Papapa and Onehunga (on the site of the ITM, 109–113 Onehunga Mall). NZTA was to pay 60% of the $3.9 million cost of building the stations.[17] The proposed station at Mount Smart was later dropped from the project.[citation needed]
In mid-2010, construction started on the terminal station at Onehunga, and its opening was delayed past its intended date to September 2010. Concern was raised that the new station would not be able to take three-car trains due to its short length, but ARTA responded by noting that initial usage predictions did not require three-car trains, and that the length of the platform could be extended later, though new consents would be needed.[7]
On Saturday 18 September, reopening ceremonies were held, with Sunday 19 September being the first day of normal passenger services. The cost of reopening the line was about $21.6 million, of which KiwiRail contributed $10 million for track work and ARTA $3.6 million for three stations. The ARC also used $8 million to buy the site for the Onehunga station, where a 60-spacepark and ride facility was to open one week after the train services began.[18]
Patronage on the line quickly grew to respectable levels, 1200 passengers a day in mid-2011,[1] far exceeding computer transport modelling predicting only 340 passengers a day by 2016.[19]
The Onehunga Line was the first to be upgraded as part of theAuckland railway electrification programme.[20] Installation of overhead wires was completed during the summer shut down from 2011—2012, stopping just short of Penrose.[3]Electric services began running betweenBritomart and Onehunga on 28 April 2014.[21]
Extension of the line toAuckland Airport has been proposed. The main barrier has been crossingManukau Harbour between Onehunga and the suburb ofMāngere Bridge. In early 2007, NZTA's predecessorTransit New Zealand announced that a project to double the width of theMāngere Bridge across the harbour would accommodate a rail link.[22] The duplicate bridge was built to accommodate the link, and NZTA has provided for a rail corridor near the motorway as far as Walmsley Road.[1]
However, in late 2016 soon after the election of Mayor Goff, the favoured Onehunga to airport rail corridor was blocked by AT when it demolished the Neilson Street overbridge immediately to the south of the Onehunga train station, putting the road straight across the rail corridor. This has effectively stymied any plan to extend the Onehunga Branch to the airport.[citation needed]
There is a proposal to build anAvondale–Southdown line, connecting the portion of the North Auckland Line on whichWestern Line services run, from near Avondale to Auckland Freight Centre at Southdown.KiwiRail owns most of the corridor, which leaves the North Auckland Line east of Avondale and follows Oakley Creek and theSH20 Waterview Connection motorway corridor (construction of which has made provision for the rail line's construction).[23]
Another proposal is to connect the Onehunga Branch at Galway Street to the Avondale—Southdown line by building a tunnel under Onehunga Mall to meet Hugh Watt Drive (SH 20), connecting to the proposed route at Hillsborough.[24]
