At the moment there is some serious work going on to improve Auckland’s rail network. Over the quiet January period large chunks of the network are being closed down so that crews can work around the clock to get as much done as possible on key projects. The upgrade of tracks around Avondale is an important part of the network upgrade, as tracks need to be lowered for electrification and also the current, poorly located station, is to be rebuilt. More information is available here, and it all sounded so exciting I had to check it out for myself.
I took along my camera too:
This photo looks westwards from the Blockhouse Bay Road overbridge at the site of the old Avondale station. It appears that most of the earthworks for lowering the tracks has been done, but (obviously) there aren’t any tracks so that will be the main focus for the next week and a bit before the line reopens.
This photo looks the other way (towards the city) from near the Blockhouse Bay Road bridge. I couldn’t get on the bridge and look eastwards because of the mass of cranes and trucks parked there. The platforms down there are temporary, while the future permanent station is built further back to the west (photos of that to come).
This photo looks from Rosebank Road towards the line. This is roughly the place where I took a couple of photos on Boxing Day.
This photo looks from Layard Street up towards the line. There used to be a much more significant bank here, which has been largely removed to help lower the line through this area.
This is another photo from Layard Street, looking towards roughly where the eventual permanent Avondale station will be.
This photo is of where the eventual permanent Avondale station will be, at Crayford Street. A lot of earth has been removed out of this area in the last couple of weeks and the line has been lowered significantly. The new station will offer significantly better access to the Avondale town centre that the old (or the temporary) stations do.
This photo is taken from near the St Jude Street level crossing. It looks back towards the site of the future permanent Avondale station. This section of track used to have quite a steep rise in it, but the works of the last couple of weeks have levelled that off hugely.
This photo is from roughly the same spot as the previous one, but looks westwards. Significant works are underway between St Jude Street and the Whau River to double-track this section.
This shot is from the other side of Crayford Street, looking down on the site of the future permanent station. Looks like some track laying is going on.
This is another shot of where the future permanent station will go. See what I mean about the serious resources being thrown at the upgrades over this period. Keep in mind these photos were all taken on a Sunday.
So I have to say I am pretty impressed by the progress that has happened in the past few weeks. It’ll be interesting to see how this work continues in the future. The lowering of the track is one of the first steps in Auckland’s rail electrification project (as the tracks need lowering so that the wires can fit under Blockhouse Bay Road) so it’s pretty exciting in that sense in particular.
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