One of the potentially most controversial upgrades happening on our rail network at the moment is happening at Ellerslie. The NZTA have narrowed down the platform by about 2m to give them enough room to build another northbound motorway lane in the future . To help mitigate the impacts of this they are also making some upgrades to the station, this includes adding an additional shelter and replacing the ramp from the pedestrian bridge with lifts and stairs (although it is dubious as to whether this constitutes an upgrade) . Here is an image of what it is the lifts and stairs are meant to look like when everything is finished.
Today I stopped by to see how things were progressing. I did feel that the narrowed platform was just wide enough but the one thing I really think that this station needs is a transparent barrier to block off the noise of the motorway from those waiting for trains. It is probably the most visible station on the Auckland network for drivers so showing that passengers needs are looked after is quite important and would probably help in encouraging more people to catch trains.
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Noise Barriers? I cant see the need for them personally….
There is quite a bit of noise that comes off the motorway as cars stream past. I used to use the station every day but haven’t been on the platform for a few years but really noticed the noise today.
Like klananook or the Perth freeway stations. They cut down the trees at kananook so the motorway drivers could do passive surveillance, hard at 100kmh
Japan / Hong Kong use soundproof walls for stations adjacent to motorways / major roads, to cut out traffic noise for station users and stop motorway users from getting distracted (causing accidents) by the various goings on at the station. Ellerslie definitely needs to have barriers put up.
I hadn’t realised the reason they are doing this is to make room for another motorway lane. It is a pity that Ontrack don’t ask NZTA to reduce the motorway footprint to make room for another rail line, given rail is where the growth is.
Can´t wait for the day for that to happen. NZTA would prob continue to use its 2006 figures to make the decision, if Ontrack had asked.
The growth is on the Eastern Line, not the Southern Line. From Otahuhu to Newmarket, the only trains that routinely use the corridor are commuter rail. The extra line for freight traffic is needed along NIMT, which is the Eastern Line corridor.
As noted, the BCR on this motorway extension is incredibly high. I’ve said before that I cannot find any fault with this motorway extension, and I’m not surprised the BCR is 7.8. I’ve done a lot of k’s along Auckland’s motorways at all times of the day and night, and the northbound Penrose-Greenlane stretch is, and long has been, consistently congested. It’s congested in the middle of the day, it’s congested on weekends, it’s congested well into the evenings.
There’s an automatic reaction in forums such as this that any motorway expansion is bad and cannot be justified, but from time to time there are projects that are objectively justified to anyone who’s an impartial observer.
All well and good, Matt, if you really believe that adding a lane, or in this case adding a bit of a lane will ‘solve’ congestion. Not move it along a bit?, encourage more driving?, delay the clog for a year max? Whatever.
*yawn*
How’s the knee from all that jerking, Patrick? Seriously, the predictable responses are so, well, predictable. Do you use that section of road at all? It’s been problematic for a long, long time. Many years. Much more so than any other part of the motorway of which I can think, and consistently so. All-day congestion on a stretch of road used by a lot of freight vehicles is a problem, whether you like to concede as much or not.
The motorway north of there has been heavily upgraded, but still there is significant congestion at this point. As soon as one passes the Main Highway overbridge, things start to ease.
This is all I’m going to say. The inevitable “It’s a worthless project, won’t fix anything, no motorway upgrades, rah rah rah” bollocks is just that: bollocks. Go and stand on the Ellerslie train station platform for a day in the middle of next month and tell me that there’s no problem with congestion on that stretch of motorway.
There is congestion all through the network and lanes have been and are being added constantly and it does not go away… simple observation. I have no beef against this particular job but against the whole group-think that more of the same will do any good. Especially as expressed in that nutty BCR… when it is clogged again will the benefit have been worth the cost x 7.8?
As long as they don’t use the same “baffles” they did in St Mary’s Bay.
The only thing they baffle is belief.
On a related topic, I notice there is what looks like a nice footbridge over the motorway at Ellerslie station. But it looks like there is no footbridge at Greenlane. Is there a way to walk across at Greenlane without running the gauntlet of the busy roundabout? With what looks like a big office building there, it seems a ridership opprtunity missed…
There is an underpass near Greenlane which takes you across to the hospital and Hotel (the large office blocks that you see), the motorway corridor is narrower at Ellerslie so it’s easier to have an overpass.
@Cameron Pitches: The extra lane is just a merge lane. Currently it stops just before the station, then resumes just past it, which causes congestion at the narrow bit. Makes good sense to complete it.
KR have room for another track here, on the western side of the station, so no need to take motorway space.
You can call it wahat you want, but the fact is that that they combine a merge lane from an onramp and an exit lane for an offramp into a continous lane which in effect will then be an extra motorway lane and will be used as such. Instead of merging as soon as they enter the motorway people willl wait until closer to the exit ramp and will get in the way of people trying to exit. Sounds to me like it will just create further congestion and conflicting traffic movements. We’re probably talking 50-100 million for this, for basically no gain.
I guess we shouldn’t be complaining however, I’m sure Brownlee would have advised NZTA to simply take the land and require AT to do the stationwork themselves.
Apparently the cost-benefit ratio for the motorway project is 7.8. Though make what you like of that, considering the flaws in the methodology for BCRs.
It does make for quite a change though to see NZTA funding projects that don’t have crap BCRs.
Crap in = crap out. I have enough experience with research to know that if you make enough assumptions you can get whatever answer you want.
I can only imagine how hard NZTA project engineers must have laughed when someone sheepishly asked about noise mitigation for station passengers. The very idea!
Some interesting news about wellington’s bus route consolidation and auckland’s transport tax option. I hope both will get some coverage on here 🙂
This is the station I use every day. Can’t for the life of me see what’s ‘controversial’ about the upgrade.
“Can’t for the life of me see what’s ‘controversial’ about the upgrade.”
Spending lots of money on narrowing the platform, so people in cars (the local competitor with trains on that route) can go faster?
“Crap in = crap out. I have enough experience with research to know that if you make enough assumptions you can get whatever answer you want.”
Sure, fixing pinch points will give you a good BCR. Of course, then, when the congestion has moved a kilometre down the road, you get a good BCR on doing your next million or two of roadworks fixing THAT pinch point. It’s a good deal if you can swing it.
So there is an old shelter. And a new shelter. And they match!!! It’s a miracle. In NZ you’d normally expect the old and new structures to look completely different so that the station looked as if it had been designed by a mad person. Then we’d be stuck with the mismatched eyesore for the new 100 years. Look at the parliament buildings to see what I mean.
First time for everything 🙂