Ōtāhuhu railway station

Ōtāhuhu railway station is located on the Eastern and Southern Lines of the Auckland rail network in New Zealand. It has an island platform configuration and is part of an integrated bus-train major transport hub. It can be reached by steps and lift from an overhead concourse that leads from the adjacent bus transfer station and Walmsley Road.

Ōtāhuhu
Auckland Transport Urban rail
The main entrance to Ōtāhuhu Station, serving the bus and railway platforms
General information
LocationŌtāhuhu, Auckland
Coordinates36°56′50″S 174°50′0″E
Owned byKiwiRail (track and platforms)
Auckland Transport (buildings)
Line(s)Eastern Line
Southern Line
PlatformsIsland and southbound platforms
TracksMainline (3)
Construction
Platform levels1
ParkingLimited
Bicycle facilitiesNo
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zoneManukau
History
Opened1875
RebuiltOctober 29th 2016
Electrified25 kV AC[1]
Passengers
2011954 passengers/weekday[2]
Services
Preceding station Auckland Transport
(Auckland One Rail)		 Following station
Sylvia Park
towards Britomart
 Eastern Line Middlemore
towards Manukau
Penrose
towards Britomart
 Southern Line Middlemore
towards Pukekohe

Ōtāhuhu station features a historic, decommissioned signal box and is the point where both freight and passenger trains enter and exit the main line from the Westfield locomotive depot.

The station was opened in 1875[3] to serve the increasing settlement at Ōtāhuhu, with a road eventually constructed to the station. The station included a goods shed and a main building, which however burned down in 1909 after a fire in the oil room got out of hand with no water supply available to suppress the fires.[4]

Upgrade
Otahuhu Station before the 2010s upgrades.
The bus platforms at Ōtāhuhu Station during an open day on 29 October 2016. The railway platforms are behind the left-hand platform in this view.

In May 2011, Auckland Transport and KiwiRail started work to lengthen the platform to accommodate longer passenger trains. The platform area around the signal box was raised and further platform installed around the base of the pedestrian over bridge to Walmsley Road.

In July 2011, the signal box at the station was one of the last to be decommissioned in Auckland, as part of a project to upgrade the signalling of the Auckland suburban network in preparation for electrification. Mainline signalling in the Ōtāhuhu station limits will be operated from the National Train Control Centre (NTCC) in Wellington, along with the rest of the Auckland network.

A new southbound platform, 1.3 km (0.81 mi) of track and four crossovers were opened in December 2020, as part of the City Rail Link works to enable trains to turn back and reduce the need for bus passengers to use the bridge.[5]

Bus-train interchange

Concern was raised in 2007 about the 1.2 km walk between the station and the nearest bus services, with the station located in an out-of-the-way industrial area.[6] These concerns were addressed by the construction of a bus-train interchange which opened in October 2016.

A public open day was held with station designers in August 2014. Enabling works began in November 2014 after the temporary closure of Titi Street Bridge. The following year (November 2015) main construction works began (building the concourse area and landscaping).

The $28 million bus-train interchange and concourse was completed in October 2016[7] and was opened on 29 October 2016.[8]

The decommissioned signal box has been retained as a historic feature of the new station.[9][10]

Nearby infrastructure

In 1927, Ōtāhuhu Railway Workshops opened on a site west of the station. This facility became the North Island's foremost wagon and carriage construction and repair facility. It was progressively closed from 1986 to 1992.

Further south, between Ōtāhuhu station and Mangere station, a rail fabrication facility was built. This facility is still in use. Ōtāhuhu also possessed Auckland's second-largest locomotive depot, which was opened in 1905, and closed in 1968, with the opening of the Westfield facility.

Services

Auckland One Rail, on behalf of Auckland Transport, operates suburban services to Britomart, Manukau, Papakura and Pukekohe via Ōtāhuhu. The typical weekday off-peak timetable is:[11][12]

  • 6 tph to Britomart, consisting of:
    • 3 tph via Glen Innes (Eastern Line)
    • 3 tph via Penrose and Newmarket (Southern Line)
  • 3 tph to Manukau
  • 3 tph to Papakura

Bus routes 32, 33, 321, 322, 324, 325, 326 and 351 serve Ōtāhuhu Station.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Auckland Electrifcation Map" (PDF). KiwiRail. 28 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  2. Auckland Transport Board Meeting (20 November 2012) Agenda Item 10(i) "Rail Electrification Extension" Archived 14 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine p. 16
  3. Scoble, Juliet (2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  4. "Railway Station Destroyed". United Press Association via Colonist. Vol. LII, no. 12695. 13 November 1909.
  5. "Weekly Roundup – 04-Dec-20". Greater Auckland. 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  6. "Locke, local candidates action on public transport". Green Party Press Release, via Scoop.co.nz. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  7. "Otahuhu bus train interchange". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. "Otahuhu's new transport hub the 'way to go' – Goff". 29 October 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  9. "New Otahuhu Station and a New Network for South Auckland". Auckland Transport. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  10. "New Otahuhu Station to open for new network". Stuff.co.nz. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  11. "Eastern Line" (PDF). Auckland Transport. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  12. "Southern Line" (PDF). Auckland Transport. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  13. "Southern Line" (PDF). Auckland Transport. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
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