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Eastern Line (Auckland)

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Eastern Line
 EAST 
Eastern Line train at Waitematā
Overview
OwnerKiwiRail (tracks and platforms), Auckland Transport (trains and buildings)
LocaleAuckland
Termini
Connecting linesSouthern Line
Western Line
Stations11
Service
TypeCommuter Rail
SystemAT Trains
Operator(s)Auckland One Rail
Rolling stockAM class
History
Opened1930 (Westfield Deviation), 7 July 2003 (Waitematā railway station), 15 April 2012 (Manukau Branch)
Technical
Track length23 km (14 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz AC overhead
Route map

Legend
km
0.0
 Waitematā
(Auckland)
Southern Line junction
 The Strand
The Strand
 Ports of Auckland Terminal
Tamaki Drive
4.6
 Orakei
Orakei Road
5.8
 Meadowbank
Purewa Tunnel (596 m)
9.5
 Glen Innes
Merton Road
9.7
 Tamaki
Morrin Road
Mountain Road
10.0
 Panmure
Ellerslie–Panmure Highway
Waipuna Road
15.1
 Sylvia Park
South-Eastern Highway
State Highway 1 NZ.svg SH 1
Southern
Motorway
Mt Wellington Highway
Great South Road
Westfield Junction
 Westfield
Railway Lane
18.0
 Ōtāhuhu
Kaka Street
Mangere Road
19.7
 Middlemore
21.7
 Papatoetoe
St George Street
Bridge Street
23.2
 Puhinui
Manukau
Manukau Branch
 
North Island Main Trunk
& Southern Line
 
This diagram:
Map
Map

The Eastern Line is the name of the suburban rail service in Auckland, New Zealand between Waitematā and Manukau via the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and Manukau Branch. Services are operated by Auckland One Rail under the Auckland Transport brand.

In December 2014, all Eastern Line train services began terminating at Manukau, rather than alternating between Manukau and Papakura.[1] Electrification of the Auckland suburban network was completed in July 2015, and all passenger services on this line are electrified.

On 20 March 2023, Orakei, Meadowbank, Glen Innes, Panmure and Sylvia Park stations were closed due to Stage 2 of the Rail Network Rebuild, with buses replacing trains on this line between Ōtāhuhu and Waitematā. The line reopened on 15 January 2024.

Construction

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The line from Auckland to Westfield via Glen Innes was constructed as the Westfield Deviation of the North Island Main Trunk. This eastern deviation had been proposed as early as the 1870s, but various events meant that it was never constructed, until traffic on the Auckland – Newmarket section of the NIMT began to experience significant delays. The Westfield Deviation avoided the major grades of the route via Newmarket and Remuera, which had a highest point of 81 metres (266 ft) above sea level, compared with the new line's highest point of 24 metres (79 ft).[2][3]

A small reclamation was made between 1905[4] and 1916,[5] 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) out of Queen Street into Mechanics Bay for goods yards and maintenance sheds. The remaining 14.28 km (8 miles & 70 chain) section was built as the "Westfield Deviation" between 1924 and 1930 by the Public Works Department as part of general improvements to Auckland's rail network, and authorised (estimated cost £375,000) by the Railways Improvement Authorisation Act, 1914.[6]

The Purewa Tunnel, a major engineering work halfway between the city and Glen Innes, was built in the mid-1920s by experienced miners who had worked on the construction of the North Auckland Line.[7]

The section from Mechanics Bay to Ōrākei required significant reclamation over Hobson Bay. At the same time a new road, Tamaki Drive, was built alongside part of the railway line. A notable feature of the deviation is that no road-rail level crossings were created by its construction.[8]

The Westfield Deviation via the Purewa Tunnel opened for goods traffic on 1 September 1929 using the down line to Westfield for single-line working, but was not used for passenger traffic until after the up line to Auckland was opened on 11 May 1930.[9][10] The construction and opening of this line coincided with the then new Auckland Railway Station. [3] The first passenger train over the line was a Wellington Limited express, when a derailment at Penrose caused it to be diverted on 18 September 1930.[11] The new station and deviation were officially opened on 24 November 1930.[12]

Stations

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Stations on the Eastern Line
Distance from Waitematā Name Opened Notes
0.00 km (0.00 mi) Waitematā 7 July 2003[13]
4.62 km (2.87 mi) Ōrākei 16 November 1930[13]
5.8 km (3.60 mi) Meadowbank 21 July 1947[13] Replaced the original Purewa station but was also known as Purewa until 22 February 1954.
9.42 km (5.85 mi) Glen Innes 6 May 1930[13]
12.13 km (7.54 mi) Panmure 16 November 1930[13] An upgraded station was opened in the first half of 2007.[14]
14.97 km (9.30 mi) Sylvia Park 1 September 1929[13] A new station opened on 2 July 2007 adjacent to the Sylvia Park mall.[15]
Ōtāhuhu 20 May 1875[13] New station and bus-train interchange opened October 2016.
Middlemore 20 July 1947[13]
Papatoetoe 20 May 1875[13]
Puhinui 29 June 1925[13] New station and bus-train interchange opened July 2021.[16]
23 km (14.29 mi) Manukau 15 April 2012[13] A bus interchange (Manukau bus station) adjacent to the station was opened in April 2018.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lowrie, Matt. "New Auckland Rail Timetables". Greater Auckland. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  2. ^ "The Westfield Deviation". The New Zealand Railways Magazine – archived at Victoria University of Wellington. 1 February 1931. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Westfield Deviation – One track in use by May". The New Zealand Herald. 27 February 1929. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  4. ^ "MECHANICS' BAY RECLAMATION. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 June 1905. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  5. ^ "RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 September 1916. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Railways Improvement Authorisation Act, 1914". New Zealand Law online.
  7. ^ "Good Progress - Auckland Railway Deviation". The Evening Post. 12 February 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  8. ^ Bill Pierre (1981). North Island Main Trunk An Illustrated History. A W Reed.
  9. ^ AJHR 1930 D1 page xvii
  10. ^ Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: Reed. p. 178. ISBN 0-589-01316-5.
  11. ^ "USED NEW LINE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 18 September 1930. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  12. ^ "AUCKLAND RAILWAY STATION. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 November 1930. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand
  14. ^ Dearnaley, Mathew (20 November 2006). "More trains at off-peak times". The New Zealand Herald. Auckland: APN Holdings NZ. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  15. ^ Dearnaley, Mathew (2 July 2007). "Next stop, shopping ... big centre gets its own rail station". The New Zealand Herald. Auckland: APN Holdings NZ. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Puhinui Station reopens Monday 26th July 2021". Auckland Transport. 27 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Manukau's new bus station opens". Auckland Transport. Archived from the original on 14 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
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