Eastern Line (Auckland)

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

Eastern Line
Overview
StatusTemporarily closed until 2024
OwnerKiwiRail (tracks and platforms), Auckland Transport (trains and buildings)
LocaleAuckland, New Zealand
Termini
Connecting linesOnehunga, Southern, Western
Stations11
Service
TypeCommuter Rail
SystemAT Metro
Operator(s)Auckland One Rail
Rolling stockAM class
History
Opened1930 (Westfield Deviation), 7 July 2003 (Britomart Transport Centre), 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
0.0km / 0:00hr
 Britomart Transport Centre (Auckland)
Southern Line junction
 The Strand Station
 Ports of Auckland Terminal
 The Strand
 Tamaki Drive
4.6 / 0:06
 Orakei
 Orakei Road
5.8 / 0:09
 Meadowbank
 596m Purewa Tunnel
9.5 / 0:13
 Glen Innes
 Merton Road
 Morrin Road
 Mountain Road
12.2 / 0:16
 Panmure
 Ellerslie - Panmure Highway
 Waipuna Road
15.1 / 0:19
 Sylvia Park
 South-Eastern Motorway
 Southern Motorway (SH1)
 Mt Wellington Highway
 Great South Road
 Westfield Junction
 Railway Lane
18.0 / 0:24
 Ōtāhuhu
 Kaka Street
 Mangere Road
19.7 / 0:27
 Middlemore
21.7 / 0:30
 Papatoetoe
 St George Street
 Bridge Street
23.2 / 0:33
 Puhinui
 Manukau Branch
 Manukau
 NIMT, Southern Line

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

In 20 March 2023, Orakei, Meadowbank, Glen Innes, Panmure and Sylvia Park stations are closed due to Stage 2 of the Rail Network Rebuild until early 2024. Buses replaces trains on this line between Ōtāhuhu and Britomart.

Construction

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).[1][2]

A small reclamation was made between 1905[3] and 1916,[4] 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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8][9] The construction and opening of this line coincided with the then new Auckland Railway Station. [2] 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.[10] The new station and deviation were officially opened on 24 November 1930.[11]

See also

References
  1. "The Westfield Deviation". The New Zealand Railways Magazine – archived at Victoria University of Wellington. 1 February 1931. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  2. "Westfield Deviation – One track in use by May". The New Zealand Herald. 27 February 1929. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  3. "MECHANICS' BAY RECLAMATION. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 June 1905. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  4. "RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 September 1916. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  5. "Railways Improvement Authorisation Act, 1914". New Zealand Law online.
  6. "Good Progress - Auckland Railway Deviation". The Evening Post. 12 February 1926. p. 8. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  7. Bill Pierre (1981). North Island Main Trunk An Illustrated History. A W Reed.
  8. AJHR 1930 D1 page xvii
  9. Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: Reed. p. 178. ISBN 0-589-01316-5.
  10. "USED NEW LINE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 18 September 1930. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  11. "AUCKLAND RAILWAY STATION. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 November 1930. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
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