Rail line upgrades close two sections

An upgrade of Auckland's Kingsland railway station for Rugby World Cup crowds will begin over Labour weekend with piling for a new pedestrian underpass.

The $6 million upgrade for the closest station to Eden Park is among several projects for which KiwiRail subsidiary Ontrack will close the western line and the Britomart-Otahuhu section of the southern line for an extended weekend working bee.

Buses will replace trains for the line closures.

Although the Auckland Regional Transport Authority is in charge of the Kingsland upgrade, Ontrack will use the closures for rail electrification enabling work at sites such as the Sandringham Rd and Mt Eden Rd bridges over the western line.

It will also install beams for a replacement Remuera Rd bridge due for completion by the end of next month over the southern line at Newmarket, where a grand new two-level station will open in January.

The transport authority - which is also working with Ontrack on a new station at Avondale - has hired buses to replace trains between Britomart and Otahuhu throughout the weekend and along the western line as far as Waitakere tomorrow and on Monday.

A more limited bus replacement service will be available between Britomart and New Lynn on Sunday.

Although the Kingsland station was reconstructed in 2004 for $4 million, police raised concern last year about crowds of up to 9000 sports fans descending on it after big matches at Eden Park, causing "crushing" on a 3.2m wide pedestrian bridge and illegal foot crossings of the railway tracks.

The station's southern platform will be extended and widened in the new upgrade. A 3.5m pedestrian underpass will be dug beneath the tracks to improve access to the northern platform, which will also be lengthened before the upgrade is completed in April.

Both platforms will be used to load 15,000 passengers within 75 minutes after rugby cup matches aboard trains heading back to Newmarket and Britomart.