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The Western Line in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand is the name given to suburban rail services that operate between Britomart and
Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former "Swanson Company" was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner bu ...
via Newmarket.


Routing

From Britomart to Newmarket, Western Line services travel on the
Newmarket Line The Newmarket Line is a railway line in Auckland, New Zealand, that runs between Quay Park Junction, near Britomart Transport Centre, and Newmarket Train Station. It is 2.64 km long. It connects the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT), whic ...
, then follow 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, wes ...
to Swanson, the current northernmost station on the network.


History

In 1877, New Zealand Railways called for tenders for the construction of a railway between Newmarket and Waikomiti (the former name of Glen Eden). Larkins and O'Brien were contracted to construct the rail line and a tunnel cutting through Scroggy Hill (located at modern-day Pleasant Road, West Coast Road and Rua Road). Locals in the area opposed the construction of a tunnel, leading to the railway being constructed over-top of the hill. The Western Line to Glen Eden was completed in February 1880, and the Western Line stations between Newmarket and Glen Eden were opened on 27 March 1880:
Mount Eden Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand whose name honours George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. It is south of the Central Business District (CBD). Mt Eden Road winds its way around the side of Mount Eden Domain and continues to weave ba ...
, Kingsland, Mount Albert, Avondale,
New Lynn New Lynn is a residential suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand, located 10 kilometres to the southwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is located along the Whau River, one of the narrowest points of the North Island, and was the locatio ...
and Glen Eden. The line was extended to
Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...
over the course of the year, and the Henderson railway station was opened on 21 December 1880. In 1881, the line was extended to
Helensville Helensville is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. New Zealand State Highway 16, State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Waimauk ...
. This caused the closure of the Riverhead railway station and the
Kumeu–Riverhead Section The Kumeu- Riverhead section was a short-lived railway line north-west of Auckland, New Zealand. It was built as part of the Kaipara-Riverhead Railway, which was isolated from the national railway network until 1881, just before closure of thi ...
, a railway that was built in 1875 that connected
Huapai Huapai is a locality north-west of Auckland, New Zealand. State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Railway Line pass through it. Kumeū is adjacent to the east, Riverhead is to the north-east, and Waimauku to the west. History The area was ...
/
Kumeū Kumeū is an affluent rural town and suburb of Auckland situated 25 km north-west of the City Centre in New Zealand. State Highway 16 and the North Auckland Line pass through the town. Huapai lies to the west, Riverhead to the north, When ...
to the port at Riverhead. Scroggy Hill between Glen Eden and New Lynn posed a major issue for trains, as the gradient was too steep for many to traverse. Occasionally trains were forced to stop near the top of the hill and leave half their carriages behind; continuing on to Glen Eden and returning later for the second set of carriages. A ravine was cut through the hill during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. By the early 20th century, an intensive suburban service ran between Auckland city centre and Henderson, with some
mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. Although common in the early days of railways, by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. Typically, servic ...
s progressing to
Helensville Helensville is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is sited northwest of Auckland, close to the southern extremity of the Kaipara Harbour. New Zealand State Highway 16, State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Waimauk ...
via Waitakere. When the mixed trains were withdrawn, Helensville became New Zealand's northernmost passenger terminus with a daily service to Auckland. However, in February 1980, the
Minister of Railways A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...
,
Colin McLachlan Colin Campbell Alexander McLachlan (28 November 1924 – 26 September 1985) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Biography McLachlan was born in Christchurch in 1924. He received his education at Lakeside Primary School a ...
, announced it would be cancelled due to a lack of rolling stock.''Rails'' magazine, March 1980, 15–16 On 18 August 1980, a new timetable was implemented – it eliminated the Helensville service, with Waitakere becoming the new terminus. At the same time, the stations at Westbrook, Croydon Road, and St George's Street were closed to suburban traffic on a trial basisWestern Leader, 26 August 1980, front page.''Rails'' magazine, September 1980, p. 14 that was later made permanent. ADK and ADL classes of
diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s (DMUs) were purchased in 1993 to replace locomotive-hauled carriage trains. In 1997, as the DMUs stimulated increased patronage, work was undertaken by
Auckland Regional Council 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 AR ...
to extend platforms so that longer trains could be accommodated.Auckland Regional Council: Rail Project Background
/ref> To enable more frequent services, construction began on 9 April 2004 to
double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...
the line between
Mount Eden Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand whose name honours George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland. It is south of the Central Business District (CBD). Mt Eden Road winds its way around the side of Mount Eden Domain and continues to weave ba ...
and Morningside.Auckland Regional Council Press Release, 2 April 2004: The Prime Minister Launches Western Rail Line Construction
/ref> When this new track entered service, a new timetable was introduced on 14 February 2005 with more frequent trains between Britomart and Waitakere, particularly during peak periods. This timetable also introduced short run services between Britomart and New Lynn.ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 16
/ref> This was followed by the opening of a new double platform
Kingsland station Kingsland is a railroad station on New Jersey Transit's Main Line (NJ Transit), Main Line. It is located under Ridge Road (New Jersey Route 17, Route 17) between New York and Valley Brook Avenues in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and is one of two s ...
on 21 May 2005, replacing the old single platform station. Further patronage growth meant that on 25 October 2005, another new timetable was implemented and it featured the re-introduction of features that had been absent for many years, including express services from Waitakere to Britomart on weekdays and Sunday trains between Britomart and New Lynn. The weekday service frequency to Swanson was cut to 37 minutes, but this meant trains to Waitakere ran only every 74 minutes.ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 21
/ref> ;Helensville trial Beyond Waitakere, services between Auckland and Helensville resumed in July 2008 on a trial basis, with a minimum of forty passengers daily required for the train to be permanently reinstated,"West Rail Needs Passengers", ''Western Leader'', 1 November 2007. but the service was terminated again in December 2009, because an average of only 43 passengers per day used the three daily services, requiring a much above-average subsidy. ;Double-tracking The first section of the duplication had been undertaken by
Auckland Regional Council 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 AR ...
, as 'Project Boston', adding 2.2 km of double track between Boston Road Station and Morningside Station by early 2005. In May 2005, work began to prepare the rail corridor between New Lynn and
Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...
for double trackingARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 17
/ref> and construction of the double track commenced on 31 December 2005.ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 23
/ref> On 19 December 2006, the central government approved a
NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...
120 million package for double trackage in the other direction from New Lynn to Avondale; this included a 1 km long, 8 m deep trench through the centre of New Lynn for which construction began in 2009. On 8 June 2010, the double tracking of the Western Line was completed, enabling trains to run in both directions on one of two tracks all the way between Britomart Transport Centre in the
Auckland CBD The Auckland Central Business District (CBD), or Auckland city centre, is the geographical and economic heart of the Auckland metropolitan area. It is the area in which Auckland was established in 1840, by William Hobson. It is New Zealand's lea ...
and Swanson station in Waitakere. The double-tracking cost $420 million and employed around 400 people. The last section was a 3 km stretch between Avondale Station and Titirangi Road in New Lynn. The station opened in September 2010. From the completion of the electrification of Auckland's suburban network in July 2015, services ceased on the non-electrified section of track between Waitakere and Swanson stations and were replaced by buses. This made Swanson the current northwestern terminus on the Western Line, as considering the low passenger numbers at Waitakere Station, increasing the height in the Waitakere Tunnel was not considered justified. Waitakere Village is now served by bus services connecting to Swanson and Henderson. ;Additional Station On 12 March 2017, Parnell Station was opened to Western Line services. Westfield station on the Eastern and Sounthern Lines closed on the same day.


Services

Suburban services are operated by
Auckland One Rail Auckland One Rail is a train operator that commenced operating services under contract to Auckland Transport in January 2022. It is a 50/50 joint venture owned by Singapore-based ComfortDelGro and Australian-based UGL Rail. The operation is the f ...
under the
Auckland Transport Auckland Transport (AT) is the council-controlled organisation (CCO) of Auckland Council responsible for transport projects and services. It was established by section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and operates under ...
brand.


See also

* Public transport in Auckland *
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 ...


References

{{NZR Lines Railway lines in New Zealand Public transport in Auckland Rail transport in Auckland