Much of the rail network goes back into action tomorrow after being closed for two weeks, although critically the eastern line and Britomart remain closed so trains will terminate at Newmarket for another two weeks with bus services running from there and Grafton to town. Here are some photos from Wednesday last week byAlex Burgess of some of the works that have taken place. You can see some more here and some from Geoff Blackmore here. Also don’t forget that the new penalty fares for HOP come in tomorrow.

First up at Papakura where the station upgrade continues and will be finished at around Easter.

Looking North
Looking South

While not technically part of the rail shutdown works, here is the progress on the MIT campus being built above the Manukau station.

And at Papatoetoe, what is odd about this one is the placement of the gantry which appears to be off centre from the platfrom and potentially in the way of people waiting for trains. It also hasn’t been coloured dark grey like the masts and gantries at other stations in order to match the light and canopy poles. In the second image you can also see how the other gantry on the has been placed quite far away from the tracks, this is to allow room for the third main to be put through here at a later date without everything having to be changed around.

Quite a bit of physical work has been going on around Otahuhu where the tracks are being realigned to create the start of the third main as well as improving connections so that freight trains don’t cause as many delays as they have in the past when they join/leave the network.

Looking south from the station
Looking south from the bridge in the previous shot.
And further south from Massey Rd. Its also good to finally see a fence has been build along Hospital Rd.

And lastly at Mt Albert where construction of the new pedestrian entry from Carrington Rd is underway

Share this

20 comments

  1. Wow, thanks guys! This, and the links to the CBT forums, is some of the best Auckland rail porn I’ve seen in a long time.

    1. Thanks Matt
      Great for us ex Jaffas to see the work that is going into the rail network. I realise that a lot of your time must go into doing this so just letting you know it is much appreciated.

  2. Great photos – they just help to ram home the level of investment going into the network at the moment, from which we will see the benefits for many years to come. They also tend to highlight the wonderful weather Auckland is having, which must really be helping expedite progress on any earthworks.

    On a side note, I want to express my appreciation for all the work being put in by KiwiRail staff and contractors over the summer break. While the rail network summer shut down is something of an inconvenience for us passengers, we should not lose sight of the fact that at the same time it demands workers to be on the job when the rest of us can kick back a little with friends and family.

    So I’d like to issue a big “ATB bravo” to all the KiwiRail staff/contractors that are spending their summer working on bringing Auckland’s rail network back up to scratch.

  3. I caught the rail bus today, the collector accepted and stamped a 10 trip ticket (which expired on December 31st) and didn’t say anything to the person using it, and on the way back there was no attendant on the rail bus, so the people getting on at unattended rail bus stops got free trips. Not very impressed.

    1. The 10-trip tickets have expired, but in a very nasty way. I’ve found myself having 1 still stashed up, so the news that they’re still being accepted is a welcome. I’m glad they allowed some grace-time on these. About the unattended rail bus, I agree.

      1. How is it nasty that something expires when it says it does? The 10-trip tickets haven’t be sold since October and remain valid until their expiry date, if this particular one expired on the 31st of December then I don’t see why you have any grounds to complain?…or am I missing something here?

        1. See here:

          http://www.maxx.co.nz/info/service-updates/notice-for-auckland-train-users.aspx

          Paper Adult Monthly rail passes and 10 Trip Tickets are no longer valid for train travel from 1 January 2013. From 7 January 2013, If you are travelling on Auckland trains without a valid ticket or a tagged on AT HOP card, you will be required to pay the Onboard Fare of $10.30 regardless of the length of your journey.

          Therefore as it is now the 6th the ticket should not technically have been accepted, but I don’t see it as a bigee as he had paid for the ticket and was unlikely to have many left.

        2. The problem is the tickets didn’t have expiry dates on them so Stranded has a point about them changing the rules in an unfair way.

          The good news is that if you go into the AT info booth at Britomart they will substitute any remaining trips for complementary paper tickets (still with no expiry date!). You can actually profit off this inconvenience: I had a range of different part-used 10 trips, including 2 stage, but the tickets they give you are all the same ‘any length journey’.

          So AT are honouring their tickets, which is great, it’s just a shame they don’t publicise any info about this in a clear up-front way like you’d expect with such a transition.

  4. That extra line at Otahuhu is incredibly important. Last year I was catching the train from there almost every day, and I could literally see delays accumulating in the system as slow freight trains lumbered through at peak hour, while commuter trains sat waiting.

  5. The third line isn’t going nearly as far as is needed though. From reading a doc on Kiwirail website the full third main was proposed to be deferred to after 2015 to save money.
    Going to be trouble in 2015 with EMU’s every 5 mins along the Otahuhu Wiri section all day, and thats not including all the traffic to and from Wiri depot.
    Unfortunately Kiwirail’s shortsightedness (forced by govt) will cause issues with EMU services on this section.

  6. Great to see progress being made; it looks like Papakura is going to be great when the work s complete. One negative though: the gantry’s and associated structures for electrification seem unnecessarily unsightly, when compared to overseas electrified lines, and even Wellington.

  7. Fancy having a pole in the centre of the pedrestian area on the Papatoetoe station platform.
    There must have been a better way than that ?!
    Put it alongside the ramp a few metres down the platform, but not in the middle of the walkway.
    Walking down the platform and then suddenlly finding a pole in front of you, and a train approaching fast…. , just watch your step.
    Health and safety might be interested in this obstruction !

    CRD

  8. Beatnik
    Just spent a week in the Meadowbank area riding to Britomart and Westfield almost daily.
    Had a argument with some of the “staff” at Britomart about the fact I did not have a ticket!
    Told ’em I was a visitor from out of town [Rotorua} seemed to calm them down.
    those machines on the platforms leave something to be desired.
    Since I was on the way to MoTaT helped.
    And the new camera got worked overtime

  9. Beatnik
    On the 12th Beatnik met Bazza at Britomart,he showed me how to use the ticket machines, very helpful.
    We had the idea of traveling to Pukekohe by rail & when we heard that there had been a derailment to a freight train south of Papakura we changed our minds.
    So we went to Papakura instead with the idea of visiting the mudel shop there, we have not got a mudel shoppe in Rotorua, I bought a pot of brown paint I needed for Chester.
    From time to time a van load of foamers journey to Auckland and the van is parked at Papakura as the driver will not take on Aucklands roads
    Boy has that place changed! I stood with Bazza on the overhead bridge and captured the trains with my camera, a very enjoyable tyme.
    I,m going back!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *