I had a brief look at progress on the Avondale train station today, and it seems as though we’re nearly there in terms of the station being ready for opening. One of the workers on the site said that they were to be done by Monday, although he didn’t know when the station would be opening. I think the opening date is some time in June, perhaps after Queen’s Birthday weekend?
Here are a few photos:
This photo looks down at the station from the eastern side of Crayford Street. While it’s a fairly basic looking station, it does integrate into the surround neighbourhood far better than the current (or previous) stations did. This integration is even more obvious from the other end of Crayford Street (which is sliced in half by the railway line), looking up towards the station from the direction of the Avondale town centre:
Up to now Avondale has been in the utterly crazy situation of having a railway station relatively near its town centre, but having absolutely no linkage between the town centre and the railway station. Luckily this insanity is coming to an end. The next photo looks at the station from the St Jude Street end, once again showing that it’s a fairly basic, but quite functional station:
And another photo from a similar angle:
What I think will be particularly interesting is seeing how much patronage from Avondale station increases once the new station opens. I am guessing quite significantly, as not long is the station brought closer to the town centre and people to the south and west of the station, it is also brought close to people living off New North Road too. In fact, very few people will actually be further from the station in its new location than they were previously. In the longer term, I also hope it can be a catalyst for some serious redevelopment and intensification of Avondale.
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Are there going to be any changes to the surrounding bus routes?
I don’t know if there really needs to be changes. Most buses run along Great North Road, Blockhouse Bay Road or Rosebank Road. All three are within a fairly short walk of the station, although it is worth noting that none run right next to the station.
The closest bus stops are some distance away from the new station and pedestrian access is far from easy: the hill climb from Gt North Road is a disincentive for the elderly; and there are no Blockhouse Bay Road bus stops within 400m and, surely, Blockhouse Bay routes ought to be the ideal feeder routes. I’m in Rome at present, confronted by a similarly hilly topography as Auckland, and notwithstanding the apparently chaotic nature of the public transport system here, it works, and more to the point, I observe that there are no pt interchanges of more than 20m distance. Oh and they have a magnetic card based integrated ticketing system for all forms of pt: a single trip costs €1 and the ticket is valid for 75 minutes including one metro journey; a weekly costs €16; and a monthly €38.
Why is the covered section so short? If every station has a small roofed section then all the passengers will be squeezing on to one or two carriages on wet days.
I hope the grade-separated crossing at the northern end will be added back in at some stage. As it is, I don’t expect it soon, what with money being short for rail as usual…
There’s an update on the Maxx website. The double tracking will open after Queens Birthday, and Avondale will open the following Monday (14th).
Its hard to see from the photos. How do passengers get from one platform to the other?
At grade crossings, northern and southern end. Modern pedestrian mazes, but that is about it.
That is what the “Temporary” one looked like. I think it now will remain permanent.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avondale_Temporary_Rail_Crossing.jpg
The last time I went through, a few weeks ago now, at the southern end it is just a pedestrian maze next to St Jude st. At the northern end the temporary crossing has been replaced with a automated gate like what is at sturges rd.
Does anyone know what is happening with the land at the northern end of the station that has been used as a storage place for construction material while this section if track was being done? It is big enough for a decent park and ride
I also thought that the covered sections seemed bizarrely short.
In terms of the vacant site that has been used for construction material storage, I agree that would make a useful park n ride. As long as there is good signage I don’t think that the links from other bus routes (Blockhouse Bay & Great North) are too difficult. But we need integrated ticketing before we really have to start worrying about that anyway.
The covered sections aren’t any smaller than other suburban stations
My sister lives in the area and this station would almost have the distance she would have to walk to the station, I’m hoping this will mean she uses the train more as at the moment she is quite a fickle user and the slighest thing sends her back to driving her car