$23m grant to double western rail line

By BERNARD ORSMAN

Auckland's rail service got a boost yesterday with a $23.2 million grant to double-track the western line between Boston Rd, Mt Eden and Avondale stations so that trains do not have to share the same line.

Once work is finished in about a year, peak-hour trains will be able to run between Britomart and New Lynn every 15 minutes instead of every 30 minutes.

The grant was made by local funding body Infrastructure Auckland to the Crown, which owns the Auckland rail network.

The money will be spent on 2.2km of new track and the realignment of existing track to create 7.5km of continuous double track from Mt Eden to Avondale.

The funding is the first stage of a project to double-track the western line to Swanson.

A separate programme has started to upgrade and build 36 stations throughout Auckland over the next four years.

Chris McKenzie, an adviser to Treasurer Michael Cullen, said the Crown was pleased to receive the grant.

The first earthworks were due to start next month.

The board of Infrastructure Auckland also made a grant of $230,000 yesterday to three North Shore primary schools, Bayswater, Browns Bay and Vauxhall, for traffic reduction.

The measures, including walking school buses, walkways, cycleways, traffic calming measures, intersection improvements and safety-travel education, aim to reduce the number of children driven to school by 10 per cent in the first year and 5 per cent in subsequent years.

About 40 per cent of morning peak traffic involves parents taking children to school.