By Maia Ingoe of RNZ
Starting today, no trains will operate on Auckland’s railway lines for the next 32 days.
It is the first extended period of rail closures in the city.
In total, 96 days of empty tracks are planned before the end of January 2026.
That means no passenger trains, freight trains, Northern Explorer or Te Huia train.
The shutdown is to allow KiwiRail to complete rail rebuilding works crucial to the opening of the City Rail Link in 2026.
KiwiRail and Auckland Transport have tried to match the rail shutdowns with school and public holiday periods.
These include:
Another 24 days of trains running at single-line reduced frequency are also planned for 2025 – happening every second weekend from June 28 to September 21, and for 12 consecutive days from December 14 to 25.
A few weeks of back-up closures are also set out, but will only be used if needed. Trains will run on a single line, at a reduced frequency. If KiwiRail needs more time to complete work, it has set out 29 days, in three blocks over January/February, June/July and September/October school holiday periods.
The shutdown allows for the completion of the final stages of the Rail Network Rebuild – a project to upgrade and repair Auckland’s railway system, which began in January 2023.
KiwiRail chief infrastructure officer Andre Lovatt said it was “critical upgrade work” to get the network ready for the City Rail Link.
“What we’re doing in that period of time is upgrading our network from a freight train network to one that can withstand or accommodate the very high-frequency metro trains that are going to be on the tracks when CRL opens.”
The City Rail Link, when opened, will double Auckland’s rail capacity, with four new stations in the CBD.
But to ensure the full CRL benefits of more reliable, faster and frequent trains are realised, work on the rest of the railway network needs to be finished.
Without the 96 days of closures, the rebuild would have been completed after the CRL’s opening.
“If we weren’t able to do that, then all of that taxpayer money that’s been invested in CRL hasn’t actually resulted in the ultimate benefits of that project,” Lovatt said.
The Government has also put $200 million towards getting the rail rebuild finished.
KiwiRail will replace track foundations and improving drainage on the Western Line between New Lynn and Swanson, the Southern Line between Newmarket and Britomart and between Ōtāhuhu and Papakura, and on other parts of the network.
It will replace ageing sleepers on bridges around Newmarket, Parnell and near Tāmaki Drive, and will work on the Parnell tunnel.
Upgrades to track infrastructure, power supplies and signal systems will help remove the temporary speed restrictions that caused havoc and widespread cancellations last February in Auckland.
Upgrades to Middlemore station will be finished, and construction of new stations in Drury and Pareātā will finish.
Lovatt said KiwiRail was squeezing a decade’s worth of work into 15 months.
“We are going to be able to operate more frequent trains and trains will be able to run faster. In essence, what that will mean is in the city, trains will run every four to five minutes, and journey times – for example from Henderson in the west to the central city – will be a 35-minute journey.”
Auckland Transport group manager of public transport operations Rachel Cara says rail replacement buses will be put on whenever trains are not running, every 20 minutes, and other frequent routes will be bolstered with extra services.
From January 6, AT will add express rail replacement buses as people return to work.
“We’re confident that the plan we have will be able to cope with the number of passengers that will be moving through this four-week period. It’s a quieter time of year for public transport with lots of people still on holiday. We’re also able to redeploy school buses to support our rail replacement services as well.”
Cara said the AT operations centre would closely monitor the network and traffic flow during the rail shutdown.
There was a dedicated plan for the first 32-day shutdown and Cara said AT would come up with specific plans for the rest of the closures throughout 2025.
- RNZ
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