Southern Line (Auckland)

Southern Line
Overview
Status	Active
Owner	KiwiRail (tracks and platforms), Auckland Transport (trains and buildings)
Locale	Auckland, New Zealand
Termini	Britomart Papakura (electric), Pukekohe (diesel shuttle)
Connecting lines	Eastern, Onehunga, Western
Stations	17
Service
Type	Commuter Rail
System	AT Metro
Operator(s)	Transdev Auckland under the AT brand
Rolling stock	AM class (Britomart – Papakura), ADL class (Papakura – Pukekohe)
Technical
Line length	49.62 km (30.83 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	25 kV AC overhead (Britomart – Papakura)

Southern Line route map
0.0 Waitematā (Auckland) Quay Park junction The Strand Eastern Line junction Ronayne Street State Highway 16 Parnell Rise Parnell 343m Parnell Tunnel Cowie Street Western Line junction 3.7 Newmarket Remuera Road Newmarket Viaduct (SH1) 4.8 Remuera Market Road Omahu Road Green Lane 6.2 Greenlane Mitchelson Street Walpole Street Main Highway 7.6 Ellerslie Ellerslie-Panmure Highway Great South Road Onehunga Branch 9.1 Penrose to Onehunga via Te Papapa South-Eastern Highway Church Street East Southdown Freight Centre Westfield Junction Railway Lane Ōtāhuhu Kaka Street Mangere Road Middlemore Papatoetoe St George Street Bridge Street Puhinui Cavendish Drive Manukau Branch to Manukau State Highway 20 Wiri Station Road Homai Browns Road Jutland Road Station Road Manurewa Weymouth Road Great South Road Te Mahia Southern Motorway (State Highway 1) Spartan Road Manuroa Road Takaanini Taka Street Walters Road Subway Road Clevedon Road 33.1 Papakura Papakura-Pukekohe shuttle (intermediate crossings not shown) Mission Bush Branch (intermediate crossings not shown) 51.3 Pukekohe NIMT

The Southern Line in Auckland, New Zealand is the name given to suburban train services that operate between Britomart Transport Centre in central Auckland and Pukekohe via Newmarket.

Routing

From Britomart to Newmarket, Southern Line services use the Newmarket Line, then follow the North Auckland Line to Westfield Junction, and from thence onto the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) line as far as Pukekohe, the terminus of the Southern Line. In its entirety, this line follows the original 1875 North Island Main Trunk route between central Auckland and Pukekohe.

The line, originally single-tracked, was duplicated, piecemeal, between 1909 and 1939. In 1915, the original single-track Parnell tunnel was bypassed by a twin-track tunnel. The older tunnel can be seen alongside the current one, between Parnell station and Newmarket Junction.

Third Main Line

A future Third Main Line is envisaged as part of the Wiri to Quay Park project announced in 2017, which is to start in 2020 and be completed in 2024. It is expected to ease congestion on Auckland rail lines by allowing "through" trains to pass stationary trains at stations, improve rail freight access from the Port of Auckland to the Westfield yards and allow more frequent passenger and freight services. The new line would be between Westfield and Wiri.

These improvements will avoid an estimated 175,000 annual freight movements on the state highway network. Work is expected to begin at the end of 2020 and will be divided into four areas outlined below. The $315 million funding package for these works was announced as part of the Government's New Zealand Upgrade Programme.

History

In 1930, the Westfield Deviation opened a new eastern route for the NIMT between Auckland and Westfield via Glen Innes. The route between Auckland and Westfield via Newmarket then ceased to be part of the NIMT. The portion between Newmarket and Westfield became part of the North Auckland Line (NAL), which runs between Westfield and Whangarei.

The Southern Line suburban services continued to run on the older route. A new line, called the Eastern Line, was introduced for services on the new route. While the Eastern and Southern lines have a different route between Auckland and Westfield, they share the same tracks between Westfield and Puhinui station.

New stations

New stations have been proposed at Walters Road and Drury, and are currently being sought by the Papakura Local Board.

Services

Suburban services are operated by Transdev under the AT Metro brand.

Stations on the line

Station	Km from Auckland	Height above sea level (m)	Current status
Britomart Transport Centre	0 km	4m below sea level	Located beneath the site of the 1885-1930 Queen Street station. Open. New Zealand's second underground station. At this location Point Britomart station opened 24-12-1873 and closed 29-11-1885 and Queen Street station opened 30-11-1885 and closed 16-11-1930. New Zealand's lowest public point.
Auckland	0 km	3	Located on Beach Road, Parnell. Opened 17-12-1930. Closed July 2003. Former Platform 7 renamed Strand Railway Station and retained for excursion services, and later, the Northern Explorer.
Parnell			Opened 12-03-2017. Located on the western side of Parnell shops near the old Mainline Steam site on Cheshire St.
Newmarket	2.53	53	Open (Four platform junction station).
Remuera	4.04	81	Open. Uses 1902-era Troup-designed station and signal box.
Greenlane	5.53	57	Open
Ellerslie Racecourse Platform	5.8	50	Closed. Platforms still exist.
Ellerslie	6.96	31	Open
Penrose	8.44	23	Open
Southdown	10.26	4.2	Closed 2004
Westfield	11.27	7.6	Closed March 2017.
Otahuhu	12.51	9.44	Open
Mangere	13.28	10.66	Closed
Middlemore	14.33	8.8	Open
Papatoetoe	16.13	18	Open
Papatoitoi	16.95	18.9	Closed 1904
Puhinui	17.66	19.8	Closed (Closed until 2021 for upgrades)
Wiri	19.04	22.25	Closed 2005
Homai	20.88	30.78	Open
Manurewa	22.49	28.34	Closed
Manurewa	22.77	17	Open
Te Mahia	24.29	14.9	Open.
Takanini	25.9	15.2	Open
Tironui	27.56	15.5	Closed 1980. Proposal for new station nearby at Walters Road lodged 2012.
Papakura	29.42	19.2	Open. Terminus for electric unit services.

The following section of unelectrified track is served by a diesel train shuttle service. Papakura is the transfer hub between services.

Station	Km from Auckland	Height above sea level (m)	Current status
Papakura	29.42	19.2	Open. Terminus for diesel train shuttle service.
Opaheke	31.92	14.5	Closed 1955. Known as "Hunua" until 1939.
Drury	34.81	9	Closed 1972. Proposal to re-open lodged 2012.
Runciman	36	8	Closed 1918
Paerata	43.31	45.1	Closed 1980
Pukekohe	47.8	60.65	Open. Terminus for diesel train shuttle service.

See also

• Public transport in Auckland
• List of Auckland railway stations