Auckland’s Rail System: thinking long term
With studies into the CBD Rail Tunnel seemingly progressing well, and studies into protecting a route for rail to the airport kicking off, I couldn’t help but get my thinking cap on again just a little bit in terms of what I think Auckland’s long-term rail system could look like.…
41 Comments Utilising the Avondale-Southdown corridor
The Avondale-Southdown rail corridor is a rather strange aspect of Auckland’s transport system (or possible transport system) in that it has been designated for rail purposes for over 60 years, but has never really got anywhere close to being constructed. It first shows up in the 1946 transport plan for Auckland:
In more recent times the line has been proposed as part of the wider upgrade to Auckland’s rail system that is the preferred option for getting rail to the airport. …
Future CBD Rail
As the CBD Rail Tunnel project slowly inches towards potentially becoming a reality, as a good public transport dreamer I feel that it is my task to look beyond this project to see what longer-term future projects might be needed to ensure that Auckland’s central city has the ability to cope with possible future railway lines that may feed into it – including a North Shore Line, a “Far East Auckland” Line (that I generally refer to as the Howick/Botany Line), an airport line and so forth.…
Planning for rail expansion: Phase 2
Last month I wrote a post about how we could expand our rail system in a cost effective manner on the isthmus and East Auckland over the next twenty years. Some of the comments and reading I’ve done has lead me to rethink the possibilities for the Airport Line and how to expand over to the Shore as Phase 2.…
Planning for rail expansion: Phase 1
How should we roll out Auckland’s rail expansion? How can we do it as cheaply as possible but ensure we get good quality and also maximum ridership?
Here is my proposal for expanding Auckland’s rail system, I’ve included diagrams of the lines that differ from the current plan, the expansion is in two phases, Phase 1: The CBD tunnel, it is absolutely crucial for any further expansion, the reasons for it have been covered extensively on this site as well as others.…
Adding light-rail to the mix
About a week ago I put together a map of what I think Auckland’s rail network should look like in around 25 years time. Now I’ve taken things one step further and added in a supporting light-rail (or in some cases busway) network that would support the heavy-rail lines that I detailed previously.…
Auckland’s Rail System in 2030-2050
A few weeks ago I put together a quick map of what I thought Auckland’s rail system in 2030 should look like. Now unless something crazy happens like all our transport dollars going to rail instead of roads, it’s probably a bit unrealistic to hope that such a system would be complete by 2030.…
Auckland’s rail system in 2030?
I have done a number of posts on ideas about what Auckland’s rail system should look like in 20 or so years time before, partly because it’s fun to come up with the ideas, but also because I think it is essential that we have a long-term vision for what we want the rail system to look like in 2020, 2030 and beyond.…
The Howick/Botany Line II
A few months ago I outlined an idea for the route of a “Howick/Botany Line” that could provide high quality public transport to a significant part of Auckland that completely lacks any form of half-decent public transport at the moment. The concept of providing a rapid-transit link between Manukau City and Panmure/Glen Innes via Flat Bush and Botany Town Centre has emerged in a few plans that ARTA has put together over the years – but never anything more than a vague arrow.…
Another Dream Train Network
I like coming up with fantasy rail networks for Auckland, as is pretty obvious from posts in the past. At the moment it seems like wishful thinking, but someone out there has to be aspirational for the future of Auckland’s railway network and why shouldn’t that be me?…
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