In the tranquil countryside outside Pukekohe, mountains of gravel are a sign that something is up.
That something, alongside the North Island Main Trunk line, is work on a railway station at Paerāta where homes are expected to spring up on paddocks within the next couple of years.
The early earthworks for the new station are part of an $870 million programme by KiwiRail to electrify the rail line between Papakura and Pukekohe, build three new stations along the 19km route, and replace the century-old wooden station at Pukekohe with a shiny new one.
The job is broken into two - the $375m electrification of the rail line and Pukekohe station works, and building three new stations at Drury, a second station at Drury West called Ngākōroa, and Paerāta station at a combined cost of $495m.
At Paerāta, Wesley College is moving away from dairy farming by setting aside 305 hectares for what will eventually be 4500 new homes at Paerāta Rise - one of several large-scale housing developments along the rail corridor where another 130,000 people are expected to live over the next 30 years.
All around Drury, big housing developments are popping up, including 800 homes at Hunua Views, 1000 homes at Aurunga and Kiwi Property is eyeing up a city the size of Napier and another Sylvia Park at Drury East.
Chris Johnston, who heads Grafton Downs, the developer of Paerāta Rise, said more than 500 sections have already been developed and 350 homes built in the northern area, and now that the location of the new railway station is known on the eastern boundary, planning can begin for more intensive housing next to the station.
He said it made sense to have the track on the boundary of Paerāta Rise to create a transit-oriented development to allow residents to get into the habit of hopping on the train.
“Having a good transit corridor with both roads and rail is a ‘plus, plus’ for us,” said Johnston, who supports greater intensification in urban areas but believes greenfield development is also important if the location is right and there’s investment in infrastructure.
Grafton Downs has invested $17m on new water and wastewater infrastructure linking through to Pukekohe, he said.
The development boss has moved from the city to Paerāta Rise, saying interest in buying sections has picked up in the past 10 weeks after a lull in the property market with people able to buy a section for between $500,000 and $700,00 and build a three-building home for between $600,000 and $650,000.
The half-billion-dollar cost for three new stations appears excessive when compared to the expanded Puhinui train station with a bus interchange which opened in 2021 at a cost of $69m.
Andrew Swan, programme manager for the three new stations, said reasons for the high cost include the designation and consenting processes, buying land and, in the case of Paerāta, building a road over rail bridge, constructing roads, park and ride facilities, as well as rising costs and contingencies.
“Whenever you are building railway stations there is an inherent cost in them because they are designed to last 100 years. They have to be really robust structures, easily maintained and durable,” he said.
At Paerāta, the ground conditions are soft and mountains of gravel are waiting to be laid to provide a solid platform to build permanent structures. The station has a park-and-ride area for 350 parking spaces able to grow to 500, parking for 200 bikes, a bus turnaround area, a wetland, and landscaping.
KiwiRail’s plans for park and ride have come in for criticism from Franklin ward councillor Andy Baker, who believes the state-owned enterprise has under-cooked demand from the wider Franklin area and northern Waikato, saying they should be starting in Paerāta with 500 spaces with the ability to crank those numbers up.
“The reason I say that is we are trying to get those people who drive from areas that have no other transport option to get to the station. There is a huge number of people so if we are going to be successful at getting people out of their daily commute they are still going to have to drive to the station,” he said.
Baker is not the only person having issues with the project. Auckland Transport bosses expressed concerns in a letter to Mayor Wayne Brown and councillors in August, saying the new stations will be fine for trains but lack interconnections and “below standard for passengers”.
Asked to expand on these concerns, AT said in a statement that KiwiRail is committed to delivering all three stations as requested and funded by government ministers, but it had a preference to consider reducing the number to two should there be issues in future with options for future upgrades.
Work started on the stations during Covid, but the project has faced challenges acquiring land, design work is almost finished, and construction is expected to start on the Paerāta and Drury stations next year for completion by 2025. A completion date for Ngākōroa station is still to be set following a judicial review in the High Court over the location.
For the new Drury station, the acquisition of nine commercial and residential premises has been challenging with negotiated sales with all but one, and the project also requires the purchase of three commercial units on South Great Rd.
“This area of Auckland is the fastest growing region and is predicted to grow by 130,000 people over the next 30 years so providing stations here is really important.
“It will get people out of cars and onto trains. You’ve only got to sit in your car on State Highway 1 trying to get into Auckland every day … I think we will see a really big shift once the stations are operational,” Swan said.
Work on the electrification project is well advanced after starting in 2020 and on track to be completed in March next year for the resumption of passenger services by the end of 2024.
Auckland Transport says when the line reopens, the train trip from Pukekohe to Papakura will take 19 minutes, knocking two to four minutes off the previous time, and not having to change trains at Papakura will make the journey faster for those continuing on.
The journey from Papakura to Pukekohe will also be 19 minutes, but this was previously 23 to 30 minutes in the peak and up to 43 minutes in the interpeak because of the extra time waiting for fewer services on the non-electrified section, AT said.
Programme manager for electrification Doug Carter said the main benefits of the project allowing for electric trains from Auckland to Pukekohe are twofold - not having to stop at Papakura for passengers to change from an electric to a diesel train, and reduced carbon emissions.
It’s been a straightforward project, he said, but made complex by having to build it while maintaining freight services and the Te Huia(Auckland to Hamilton) and Northerner(Auckland to Wellington) passenger services.
That has meant replacing all local rail passenger services with buses since 2020, and having to shuffle freight trains between different sections of track, which creates big safety challenges.
Swan said KiwRail worked with Auckland Transport to try and maintain some local passenger services with freight, even some peak services, but it was just not possible.
Other challenges have been Covid, although KiwiRail received permission to work at Level 3 and bring critical workers across the border with the Waikato, keeping energy levels up with the team and keeping on time, and budget, said Swan.
So far, more than 85 per cent of new overhead masts and bridges between Papakura and Pukekohe have been installed, and more than 40 per cent of overhead lines.
The old Pukekohe station has been acquired by businessman and history enthusiast Harry Mowbray and moved to his Matangi dairy factory near Hamilton to be restored, leaving a blank canvas for a modern revamp.
The new station at Pukekohe will have two platforms able to accommodate up to nine-car passenger trains, modern facilities for passengers and staff facilities, and train stabling capacity. There will also be rail tracks to allow the through-running of freight services while future-proofing for potential third and fourth main lines.
Swan said the electrification project, construction of the new stations, and a third project to build a third rail line between Wiri and Quay Park are all working to support the opening of the $5.5 billion City Rail Link, due in 2026.
If you look at that, all combined, the benefits will be massive, he said.
They’re young, talented, and going places at KiwiRail.
Hannah Horne and Li-Yen Thor are still in their 20s but carry big responsibilities on the Papakura to Pukekohe electrification project.
Horne, aged 28, is a project manager overseeing the installation of the overhead line equipment, including the ground foundations, the steel structures and installing the copper electric wires.
Thor, aged 24, is the environmental and sustainability adviser whose job is to ensure the project complies with environmental regulations, keeping impacts at a minimum, come up with sustainability initiatives, and embed KiwiRail’s sustainability strategy into the project.
In two years since joining KiwiRail’s graduate programme with an engineering degree, Horne has risen through the ranks from a junior project manager to a project manager.
“I thought rail was a great industry to get into with lots of projects happening in New Zealand at the moment, but also internationally.
“I really enjoyed our graduate programme. You get exposed to lots of different parts of the business and I found I was really supported and pushed and my experience really grew very rapidly,” she said.
Horne grew up with a love of rail - her parents worked for the old New Zealand Railways - saying ‘if there was a train activity we could do we did it”, from rail-themed holidays to steam train rides.
Thor came to KiwiRail after a background in research and doing a master’s degree in environmental science and working as a climate modeller at Niwa.
She has been in her role at KiwiRail for seven months, saying the work is very fast-paced and rewarding.
“In research, the goal is to present new findings and publish new work, but not necessarily see it come true.”
In her brief time at KiwiRail Thor has been thick of removing 80 per cent of waste from landfill, replacing 60 per cent of the concrete piles at the Pukekohe station with steel-driven piles to save carbon, and working with mana whenua and community groups, such as the South Auckland Riding for the Disabled.
RNZAF Hercules was heading to Vanuatu with rescue staff and equipment after quake.