Along with visiting Onehunga yesterday, I also made a stop off at Penrose to have a look at the work going on there. There is a general station upgrade going on to bring the facilities up to an acceptable standard so here are some photos of where things are at. The main station building is being trimmed back which I believe is to give more space at the end of the access ramp.

Yellow dots going down on the platform instead of just a line and in the distance you can make out the poles for a standard style platform shelter.

I’m not sure what is planned to happen to the station building but but hopefully a use can be found for it other than just shelter. Its great that we are ticking these upgrades off and most stations should be fully upgraded before the first electric trains start rolling around the network late next year. My only real complaint is that many stations only have a tiny shelter which simply isn’t enough on rainy days when there are 60+ people hanging around waiting for a train.

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18 comments

  1. What a shame that our station access bridges are never built to a standard to also do dual duty as cycle bridges across the rail line… typical example of how everyone works in their own silo / funding envelope…

    1. Of course that makes me sound like I have nothing good to say – so, yes: it is nice to see these stations receive upgrades, and a consistent quality. Good to see the Herald is also showing photos of new stations in their rail pieces (occasionally – when they are not using Britomart & Newmarket photos).

      1. Hi Joust, have you cycled across there? Not very nice, and you have to go through a pretty unpleasant intersection to start. And the point is not whether one CAN cycle over a rail bridge. It is whether one is allowed (heck – invited) to do so, and whether one then can do so without endangering pedestrians because the bridge is too narrow. Also my comment was about the general fact that we don’t do this kind of dual-purpose design in general, not just about the specific location. The extra cost would often be pretty negligable, and certainly much less cost than a “bespoke” cycling route bridge in addition. But because Kiwi Rail won’t see the extra benefit out of their tight pockets…

    1. Yes the Onehunga line was the first finished. You can see a little bit in the first photo on this post and its pretty clear in the photos on the Onehunga post

  2. Matt, totally agree about the woeful lack of shelter on Auckland station platforms. Its absolutely ridiculous. AT need to pull finger and put platform shelter extension into their station upgrade budget for 2013-2015. Avondale definitely needs it, as does Sturges Road, Ranui, Ellerslie, Greenlane / Otahuhu (when come their turn to be upgraded), Papatoetoe, Manurewa, Papakura and Glen Innes.

    1. Otahuhu is the process of being upgraded and looks standard length too me. Penrose and Otahuhu was joint project so are being done at the same time by Hawkens Construction.

    2. Rob, it will get better but not for the first time can I remind you there is a limited pool of funding. You are not in Japan now Dr Ropata! 🙂 There hasn’t been enough money to upgrade all stations with lots of shelter. AT (and I agree with them) have taken the view that it is better to give some type of upgrade to all stations rather than just doing a first class job on a few. It’s not perfect but it’s a pragmatic approach that understands money doesn’t grow on trees for PT in Auckland. But it is slowly happening (New Lynn, Ellerslie, Papakura, Panmure and as Matt L commented on Penrose) and will continue to happen. Unfortunately we just have to be patient as usual when it comes to PT in Auckland. I do know it’s in AT’s thoughts because CEO David Warburton made particular refernce to it when he had just started his job by opening the Baldwin Ave Station.

    1. Am in total agreement with you there. Shelter is needed on both station platforms and on associated access bridges. Very perplexing that neither has been done to date.

  3. Its a shame that the station wasnt moved slightly north, so three platforms werent required to service both the southern and onehunga lines. I believe it would also serve Penrose better as a whole. In any case, it’s great to see the upgrades happening.Takanini, too, is in dire need of better shelter.

    1. Yes I initially had put that in my post but took it out in the end. I think it should have been between where it is now and the Gt South Rd overbridge. That would have given it an entrance off the bridge and they could still have left the current pedestrian overbridge as it was but just turn around the bottom half of the ramp. Probably comes down to cost and overall impact though as it might not have generated enough extra passengers to justify.

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