New Lynn railway station is on the Western Line of the
Auckland railway network,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
, and is part of an integrated transport centre where transfers can be made to and from bus services. A redeveloped station in a new rail trench was opened on 25 September 2010.
LynnMall, a major shopping mall, is close by.
History
* 1880, March: Opens as one of the original stations on the
North Auckland Line
The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newmarket Station; from there, we ...
.
* 1983, March: The
Auckland Regional Authority
The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...
decides to relocate the station east, to the other side of the Rankin Avenue-Totara Avenue-Clark Street road intersection and adjacent to the bus station, despite the uncertain future of Auckland suburban services.
[''Rails'' magazine, April 1983, p.19]
* 1987, August: The old station building is demolished after vandals broke in and damaged it.
[''Rails'' magazine, September 1987, p.41]
* 2006, December: Double-tracking between New Lynn and Avondale is approved by the central government; the $120 million package includes a 1 km long, 8m deep trench to carry the tracks, and a new station with below-ground platforms. Trenching the tracks means that they will no longer pass directly through the Rankin Avenue-Totara Avenue-Clark Street road intersection, removing a source of traffic congestion and the potential for collisions.
* 2008, March: The station platform is demolished and a temporary platform constructed to make way for the rail trench earthworks.
* 2010, 1 March: Trains begin running in the trench on a single track.
* 2010, 29 April: The first steam train runs in the trench,
Ja 1275 on the Northlander to
Whangarei.
* 2010, 8 June: Trains begin running through the trench on two tracks, completing the Western Line Double Tracking Project.
* 2010, 24 September: The station is officially opened by the
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Sir
Anand Satyanand
Sir Anand Satyanand, (born 22 July 1944) is a former lawyer, judge and ombudsman who served as the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011.
Satyanand was chair of the Commonwealth Foundation for two 2-year terms, ending in De ...
.
* 2012, April–June: The station shelters are transformed and a glass encased stairwell shelter is put into place due to high patronage use.
Rail trench
![New Lynn Rail Trench Construction Site III](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/New_Lynn_Rail_Trench_Construction_Site_III.jpg)
In the late 2000s, local and regional government, as part of the revitalising of the regional rail commuter network, decided to build a new "feature station" at New Lynn, which included sinking the tracks and station into a trench.
[Major Makeover In Store For New Lynn Rail Station](_blank)
(from the ARTA newsletter, February 2009. Accessed 2009-03-27.) Road was
grade-separated from rail to enable vehicle traffic to pass over the line.
Before the trenching works, the level crossings in the town centre were often blocked by passing trains, leading to substantial road congestion, which would have only increased with more train services.
The new rail trench and associated sunken station were to be constructed with up to 16m deep
diaphragm walls
Diaphragm may refer to:
Anatomy
* Thoracic diaphragm, a thin sheet of muscle between the thorax and the abdomen
* Pelvic diaphragm or pelvic floor, a pelvic structure
* Urogenital diaphragm or triangular ligament, a pelvic structure
Other
* Diap ...
using specially imported cranes and specialists. This was required due to the unstable, water-logged soils and the need to avoid settlement damage to close by buildings. The procedure to construct the 1 km of trench (with finished depth of up to 8m) involved multiple temporary shifts of the railway line and of various associated roads, and was called the most difficult part of the DART railway development programme in Auckland.
[''New New Lynn's Look'' - ''e.nz magazine'', ]IPENZ
Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau (ENZ; previously the New Zealand Institution of Engineers – NZIE and then Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand – IPENZ) is a not-for-profit professional body that promotes the integrity a ...
, September/October 2008, Page 27-31 Wet ground conditions had also forced a redesign of the trench methods, and delayed the project start by six months.
Services
Bus routes 14T, 14W, 18, 22N, 24B, 24R, 68, 191, 138, 152, 154, 161, 162, 170, 171, 172, 186, 195 and 670 travel to the bus-train interchange at New Lynn, directly adjacent to the station.
See also
*
List of Auckland railway stations
This is a list of the railway stations in the public transport network of Auckland. It includes closed and planned stations. Auckland has 13 fare zones, with some zone overlap areas. The routes shown pass into and out of central, western, eas ...
*
Public transport in Auckland
References
{{Public transport in Auckland
Rail transport in Auckland
Railway stations in New Zealand
Railway stations opened in 1880
Whau Local Board Area
Bus stations in New Zealand
Buildings and structures in Auckland
Transport buildings and structures in the Auckland Region