I got out to New Lynn station yesterday to take a few photos. I’m pretty damn impressed with how this station is coming together and I think it’s going to be an enormous asset for the rail network once completed.
The photo above is taken from around the limit of where you were able to get to until a couple of weeks ago. There’s a reasonably sizeable area, pretty much in the region where I was staying to take the photo, which has a roof on it. Oddly enough the trains don’t seem to be stopping on that part of the platform at the moment. Which reminds me to mention how incredibly long the platforms are!
This photo shows the staircase and lift, which together with the escalators in the previous photo provide access between the concourse above and the platforms below. I really like the pattern in the tiles on the wall – it gives the place a bit of character.
The above photo looks out from the concourse areas to the bus station which is being shifted to be right next to the train station. If there’s one criticism I have of the station design it’s that I think it would be beneficial for there to be more permeability between the train station and the bus station in this area. Perhaps this has been avoided to make it easier for ticket-gates to be placed within the station in the future, but at the moment you will have to take a bit of a detour to get out of the train station to your connecting bus – which may be frustrating if it’s about to leave!
This is another photo of the concourse area. This spot seems quite well suited to where future ticket-gates could go should they be desired.
Finally, this photo looks at the station’s exterior from Clark Street. It’s a pretty imposing structure – and I think over time will definitely become quite iconic for New Lynn. I’m a big fan of the design myself and I can’t wait to see the place fully finished.
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Thanks for the photos, do they have a date on when it will open and will there be a ceremony?
I think it deserves one
I think an official opening is being planned for some time in October.
Thanks for the photo’s, they are great as at the moment I’m still recovering from a injury and are unable to gt out there myself.
It’s a shame they said only Britomart and Newmarket are getting gates when the new ticketing comes. I would of thought New Lynn would of been another ideal station for them.
The station looks great and will look even better when it is finished. As much as we have complained about ARTA over some issues, I really think they have done a great job on the redeveloped train stations. Newmarket and New Lynn look amazing and are the kind of infrastructure that Auckland has lacked for so long.
Patrick – I think the works are due to finish in September, I agree they should have a proper opening for it.
Joshua- I have no idea really, but I would imagine the main role of the gates is to be at major ‘destination’ stations. I think as long as there is a gate at one end of a passengers trip, it is very hard to escape paying the fare- the gate would catch you out if you diddn’t ‘touch on’ at the beginning of your journey.
As Britomart and Newmarket are the largest destination stations by far, they would have the largest return on the investment in gates. I think were very lucky to get gates at all given how underused our system is compared to other systems… although it would be nice to get them at New Lynn and Manukau too!
True Sam – However I think Integrated ticketing will bring a large patronage boost, also comfortable electric trains will help. New Lynn has big potential with Manukau expected to be the 2nd busiest station on the Network, overtaking Newmarket, so these are still major Stations, I would assume these station would quickly gain the patronage to justify the investment, and also would be major destinations New Lynn being right outside New Lynn Mall. The other main destination would be Sylvia Park, however the station is not really suited.
What would be good would be to have temporary tag on facilities available for big events. These could be taken to stations near major events and used to ensure that people tag on/off as they enter or exit the station. This would ensure that people don’t get away with not tagging when the trains are extremely crowded and also it could ensure there isn’t a huge rush for the few tag posts that are presumably going to be set up on the stations.
James – while your suggestions makes sense, won’t the tag-on be so quick you can essentially walk past without breaking stride? 0.3s sounds pretty quick to me.
Yeah but when you have several hundred people getting off and on at the same stop it could present delays. Particularly given that 0.3 seconds is how fast the machine takes, people will almost certainly be slower than that. It might not be needed but I think we need to realise that there is a possibility that there could be long delays, particularly when you remember that a lot of the people may be infrequent pt travellers.
I think the gates would be very useful at this station, really just as another means by which to discourage undesirables from accessing the station and tagging it.
Ian, I very much suspect that the gates would not deterr a single tagger. They are extremely unlikely to be even as harsh as the ones in the Paris Metro
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint-Lazare-2-Salle-echang.jpg
And even those get bypassed by people without paying every now and then.
I’m pretty sure the long walk from the station entrance around to the buses is only temporary. When completed, the station will have a second entrance facing the bus side.