North Auckland Line

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Westfield-Opua
Route length: 284.13 km
Gauge : 1067 mm ( cape track )
Legend
   
 298.96 Opua
   
 Opua branch line
   
 281.30 Otiria
   
 Okaihau branch line
   
 (Northern limit of suburban traffic)
Station, station
 36.62 Waitakere
tunnel
 Waitakere Tunnel (274 m)
Stop, stop
 32.69 Swanson
Stop, stop
 30.40 Ranui
Stop, stop
 28.55 Sturges Road
Station, station
 27.08 Henderson
Stop, stop
 25.46 Sunnyvale
   
 Waikomiti
   
 24.33 Westbrook (Oratia)
Stop, stop
 23.15 Glen Eden (Waikumete)
   
 22.32 Croydon Road (Scroggy Hill Street)
Stop, stop
 21.35 Fruitvale Road
Stop, stop
 20.24 New Lynn
   
 18.71 St. George's Street
Station, station
 17.52 Avondale
   
 Woodward Road
Stop, stop
 15.81 Mount Albert
Stop, stop
 14.78 Baldwin Avenue
   
 Avondale Road
Station, station
 13.45 Morningside
Stop, stop
 12.48 Kingsland
Stop, stop
 11.13 Mount Eden
Stop, stop
 10.00 Boston Road
Gleisdreieck - straight ahead, ex to the left, from the left
 Newmarket Branch Line
Station, station
 8.53 Newmarket
Stop, stop
 7.46 Remuera
Stop, stop
 5.99 Greenlane
   
 5.58 Racecourse Platform
Stop, stop
 4.62 Ellerslie
Gleisdreieck - straight ahead, to the right, ex from the right
 Onehunga branch line
Stop, stop
 3.17 Penrose
   
 1.28 Southdown
BSicon KDSTaq.svgBSicon ABZgr + r.svgBSicon .svg
Southdown Freight Center
   
 Main line to Auckland
Station, station
 0.00 Westfield
Route - straight ahead
 Main line to Wellington

The North Auckland Line is a major railway line on New Zealand's North Island . From its connection with the North Island Main Trunk Railway in Westfield in the Auckland region , it now runs a total of 284.13 km via Whangarei to Otiria in the Northland region . The first section was opened in 1868 and the line was completed in 1925.

Two routes are used by the Auckland regional rail network. From Westfield Station to Newmarket it is used by the Southern Line , from Newmarket to Waitakere City by the Western Line . Commuter trains from Helensville began operating in July 2008.

In the past, the route continued from Otiria to Opua in the Bay of Islands . This section is also known as the Opua branch line. Today it belongs to the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway , but has not been used regularly since 2001, with the exception of a short section that has been in operation again since 2008.

Branch lines

Only two branch lines exist to this day: The Auckland-Newmarket route , also Newmarket Branch , connects the North Auckland Line in Newmarket with the Britomart Transport Center . The Dargaville branch line branches off further north in Waiotira . A new branch line, the Marsden Point Branch , has been proposed to service a proposed deep water port at Marsden Point . This is to leave the route south of Whangarei in Oakleigh . The Okaihau branch line used to run from Otiria to Okaihau , the Riverhead branch line went from Kumeu .

Railway stations and stops

The following train stations and stops are or were on the route. The distances are measured from the connection point with the North Island Main Trunk in Westfield.

Shortly after Opua, the route ended at the quay and offered a connection to shipping.

construction

The entire line was built in several stages. Initially, individual isolated railway lines were built in the Northland region. Eventually it became clear that a main line was needed to connect these isolated sections and thus create the conditions for economic development in the region.

Kawakawa – Taumarere

The first section of the future North Auckland Line was opened on March 2, 1868 as a private industrial line between Kawakawa and a quay in Taumarere . Back then, this route was not a railway, but a bush tramway with wooden rails to bring coal to the dock for export. It was built in standard gauge (1,435 mm). The 1,067 mm cape gauge common in New Zealand today came about later. When the Kawakawa-Taumarere line received metal rails in 1870, the standard gauge was retained, only after the government bought the line in 1875, it was switched to Kapspuir in 1877.

Kaipara – Riverhead

The Kumeu-Riverhead Section , the second part of today's route, was built as a temporary measure. The lumberjacks around Kaipara Harbor had poor access to the markets in Auckland, so a route from Kaipara Harbor to a pier in Riverhead was built for shipping . The Auckland Provincial Council began work on August 31, 1871. On January 1, 1872, the New Zealand government took over the work. Due to delays in the procurement of rails, the work was delayed and the line did not open until October 29, 1875. The section from the coast of Kaipara Harbor with a station called Helensville South to Kumeu became part of the North Auckland Line, the rest to Riverhead one Branch line. This short distance reduced the transport costs and the transport time compared to teamed oxen or the time-consuming coastal shipping.

Whangarei – Kamo

When coal was found in the Kamo area , the need arose for a means of transport from the mines to loading points by the sea. The first mine started operations in 1872. In the 1870s mining activities increased and with it the pressure to build a railroad. In 1877 the government approved the construction of a mine railway. However, a preliminary investigation the following year showed that this would not meet the needs and therefore approved the construction of a railway line from Kamo to Whangarei. Construction began on March 10, 1879, but quickly fell behind schedule as the terrain proved unstable and landslides occurred. The first 7.3 km were opened on October 28, 1880, including a 1 km long branch line to an alternative loading point. The entire line, 10.64 km long, opened on November 30, 1882.

Auckland – Helensville

The earliest Auckländer part of the line between Newmarket and Westfield stations was actually built in 1973 as part of the Onehunga branch line and later part of the North Auckland Line. The first work on a stretch north of Auckland officially began later that decade and took place in parallel with the work on the Whangarei – Kamo section. The first part from Newmarket to Glen Eden station opened without celebrations on March 29, 1880. On December 21, 1880 the line to Henderson was completed on July 13, 1881 to Helensville. This connected the line to the Kaipara – Riverhead section. The northern endpoint of Helensville South moved to a more centrally located train station in Helensville. The section from Kumeu to Riverhead was now superfluous, as it was easier to transport the goods directly to Auckland by train than to take the detour across the sea. The section was therefore closed on July 18 of the same year.

Taumerere - Opua

In the mid-1870s, the wharf at Taumarere was found to be inadequate. In 1876, a jetty in deep water and an associated town called "Newport", later Opua, were planned . A railway line was built from Kawakawa to Opua. This opened on April 7, 1884. The short section to the quay in Taumarere thus became a feeder line. Both the pier and the railway line there were closed on the day the line to Opua went into operation.

Kamo-Kawakawa

In the second half of the 1880s new efforts began to develop for a route between Kamo and Kawakawa. Investigations had already been carried out in 1879 and 1883, but at that time the government did not approve the construction. The dispute over the forest near Puhipuhi finally brought the route to fruition. Those interested in logging wanted to fell the forest, but did not have sufficient means of transport to bring the wood to Whangarei for export. Others wanted to burn down the forest to use the land for agriculture. Arson in 1888 made it clear that wood in great value would be lost if the railway was not built soon. The local MP announced the construction of a tram on August 7, 1889, but was rejected by the Public Works Department (PWD) for two years . In 1891, a consortium was formed to extend the line under the Railway Construction Act 1881 , and their detailed offer prompted the newly elected government to act. The Railway Authorization Act of 1891 freed up the necessary funds by withdrawing from a planned two-lane expansion of the line from central Auckland to Penrose Station.

The interest group was initially not satisfied with the government's progress. Due to a lack of labor, work did not begin until March 1892. On July 2, 1894, the line to Waro was released. The residents believed this was the first part of a connection to Kawakawa, but Richard Seddon had not approved the entire project, only the extension to Puhipuhi Forest. The route was originally supposed to end in Whakapara . An extension to Waiotu was necessary for better access to the forest and opened on December 28, 1898. A further extension to Hukerenui was requested, but this was delayed until the Railway Authorization Act of 1898 was not approved by parliament. There was considerable political pressure to fill the gap between Kawakawa and Whangarei as the road between the endpoints of both sections was muddy and in poor condition. The Railway Authorization Act of 1899 therefore released the construction of the Waiotu – Hukerenui line and 8 km south of Kawakawa. The railroad law of the following year allowed the construction of the last 24 km to complete the line via Otiria.

On March 1, 1901, the line to Hukerenui was released. In 1904 the PWD could run trains up to 12.8 km south of Kawakawa. A lack of detailed explorations, poor funding, unstable terrain and overloading the PWD with various tasks contributed to the slow progress of the work. In May 1910, the 7 km long section from Hukerenui to Towai was released. The entire section was completed in the following year. On April 13, 1911, he was handed over by the PWD to the New Zealand Railways Department . With this Whangarei was connected to the Bay of Island.

Helensville-Whangarei

With the completion of the route from Whangarei to Opua, there was now only a gap between Helensville and Whangarei. The first work to close this large gap began in the 1880s when an extension from Helensville to Kanohi opened on May 3, 1889. Behind Kanohi, the construction turned out to be extremely difficult and lengthy due to the soft clay soil. The 4.5 km between Kanohi and Makarau were therefore not finished until June 12, 1897, followed by a further 5 km to Tahekeroa on December 17, 1900. Further sections of the route were completed over the next few decades. Wellsford was reached on April 1, 1909, and Te Hana on May 16 of the following year. A small locomotive depot was set up in Wellsford, and Te Hana was the northern terminus of passenger traffic until the entire route was completed.

After the completion of the North Island Main Trunk Railway in 1908, the workers could be deployed in the north. This accelerated construction over a number of years. In 1914 the longest bridge on the route, the Otamatea Bridge , was completed with a length of 313 m . The outbreak of the First World War slowed down construction. On March 13, 1913, the line reached Kaiwaka. The next part to Huarau, including the Otamatea Bridge , was not officially inaugurated until March 1, 1920. At that time, the line had started to be driven south from Whangarei at the same time. The section from Whanrarei to Portland went into operation on April 3, 1920. Work progressed from both ends to connect Huarau and Portland via Waiotira. However, this did not go without a dispute with local interest groups who preferred alternative routes. There were discussions about whether the line should be built only to Whangarei or to Kaitaia and the Far North as the main line. When the construction of the route north of the Otamatea Bridge was approved, it was planned to build it via Waiotira and Kirikopuni as part of a main route to the Far North, with a branch route from Waiotira to Whangarei to be added. However, the government first approved the construction of the branch line. The "main line" via Kirikopuni was officially approved in 1919, but never built. From 1923 the PWD offered freight traffic between Huarau and Portland, but some parts could only be used temporarily because of the difficult ground conditions. The route was handed over to the Railways Department by November 29, 1925. This finally ended the construction of the North Auckland Line.

business

The line from Westfield Junction to Otiria Junction is now owned by the rail infrastructure company Ontrack . On the section from Westfield Junction to Waitakere, passenger trains are operated by Veolia as part of suburban traffic from Auckland . Furthermore , freight trains operated by Kiwi Rail also use the section beyond Waitakere to Otiria Junction. The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway owns and operates the Kawakawa to Taumarere section.

Long-distance transport

In the early years of the route, services were localized, catering to local rather than national needs. When the route was completed, a through express train between Auckland and Opua, the Northland Express , was set up. In the 1950s it drove three times a week and took 5 hours and 20 minutes from Auckland to Whangarei. Because of the winding route, however, the passenger trains were slow and competed with individual transport.

In November 1956, the Northland Express wagon train was replaced by type NZR RM railcars with 88 seats . The connection was popular, but the railcars were taken out of service again in July 1967 due to mechanical unreliability. Since the Auckland Harbor Bridge opened in 1959 and drastically reduced travel times on the road to the north, the railway was therefore in increased competition and the railcars were not replaced by another passenger train service. Instead, cars were attached to some freight trains. These mixed trains ran between Whangarei and Auckland and between Whangarei and Okaihau or Opua. Because they stuck to the freight train timetables, the mixed trains were much slower than the railcars. This made them increasingly unpopular, so that the mixed operation was given up in 1976. Since then, passenger trains have only run within the Auckland local transport network.

Commuter traffic for Auckland

Commuter traffic between Auckland and its western suburbs has been one of the mainstays of the North Auckland Line from the start. The connections between the Britomart Transport Center in downtown Auckland and Waitakere are currently part of the Western Line of the MAXX public transport network . After Waitakere, passenger traffic between Auckland and Helensville was resumed on an experimental basis in 2008. A minimum of 40 passengers per day is considered a minimum for a permanent connection. If the Marsden Point branch line is built by Oakleigh, commuter trains can also be operated between Ruakaka and Whangarei, which travel on the North Auckland Line between Whangarei and Oakleigh, and then follow the branch line to Ruakaka.

Freight transport

In the early years, freight traffic was operated on a local basis and this continued after the line was completed. The traffic was usually operated in the sections Auckland to Whangarei and north of Whangarei.

In 2007, an upgrade of the line was described by Northland Regional Council Chairman Mark Farnsworth as an important step in the construction of the proposed Marsden Point branch line . The expansion of the tunnel dimensions would enable large containers to be transported between Marsden Point and Auckland.

Locomotives

When the railway line around Whangarei was operated isolated from the national rail network, up to half of the W B- class locomotives were operated here. Diesel-electric locomotives have been used since 1966, as the locomotives of DB and DG-class , the steam engines of the A B - and J-Class replaced, previously sailed the route several decades. In 1968 the Makarau tunnel was expanded to enable the use of DA locomotives . Locomotives of this series were predominant until well into the 1980s. Although the DA-Class was decommissioned in many other parts of the New Zealand rail network, they were in service on this route until February 1989 because the DC series did not fit through the Makarau Tunnel. Then locomotives of the DF and DX series were used to Whangarei. Today the DC series can also pass through the Makarau tunnel.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b "West Rail Needs Passengers", Western Leader , November 1, 2007.
  2. ^ Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 96.
  3. ^ A b John Yonge (editor), New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, fourth edition (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 1-2.
  4. ↑ a b Robin Bromby, Rails That Built a Nation (Wellington: Grantham House, 2003), 17th
  5. ^ David Leitch and Brian Scott, Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways , revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995]), p. 14
  6. ^ HJ Hansen and FJ Neil, Tracks in the North (Auckland: HJ Hansen, 1992), p. 76
  7. ^ Hansen and Neil, Tracks in the North , 100-1.
  8. ↑ a b c Hansen and Neil, Tracks in the North , pp. 86-8.
  9. ↑ a b c Hansen and Neil, Tracks in the North , pp. 101-5.
  10. ↑ a b Churchman and Hurst, Railways of New Zealand , 97.
  11. ↑ "All aboard for Ruakaka" Whangarei Leader , February 21 of 2006.
  12. ↑ 'First step' for $ 120m rail link . In: Northern Advocate . NZME. Publishing , November 28, 2007, accessed May 6, 2019 .