West Aucklanders next in line for KiwiRail’s disruptive rail rebuild, some trains will still run

KiwiRail is undertkaing a three-year-long rebuild of large parts of the Auckland rail network. Photo / Alex Burton

West Aucklanders are next in line for KiwiRail’s disruptive three-year-long rebuild of large parts of the metro network.

At Labour Weekend, the Western Line between Newmarket and New Lynn will be closed in order to replace the compacted rock between the tracks and upgrade drainage, which will take until May next year.

But KiwiRail chief planning officer David Gordon said unlike significant disruption on the upgraded Southern Line and continuing work on the Eastern Line, some trains will keep running, meaning the works are less disruptive for commuters.

“We are able to work in the evenings, on some weekends, and over Labour Weekend and the quiet Christmas period,” Gordon said.

“We will need to work during workdays on the Western Line for about nine weeks, but we can do this while keeping one track open so that some trains can keep running.”

KiwiRail chief planning officer David Gordon. Photo / Alex Burton

The latest works include some minor upgrade works on the Southern Line south of Puhinui from early to mid next year.

One regular commuter on the Western Line, who did not want to be named, said when your commute is already over an hour long, the last thing you want to hear is that there will be fewer trains.

“This on top of the random cancellations, as we saw due to a fault at Fruitvale station recently, just makes me really nervous about using public transport, and the potential to screw up your whole day.

“Even if they do introduce more buses on the Western route, this won’t save any time. Have you seen the Northwestern Motorway recently? It just doesn’t have any more capacity,” said the commuter, saying West Auckland’s population is growing but the roads have stayed largely the same.

Work on the Western Line starts at Labour Weekend. Photo / Michael Craig

Auckland Transport’s public transport manager Stacey van der Putten welcomed the reduced disruption, saying AT will provide customers with accurate information and alternative travel options to travel around the city by public transport.

“The Rail Network Rebuild work is one of several projects designed to prepare our network for the demands of introducing the City Rail Link. Together these projects will provide our customers with faster journey times and more frequent, reliable trains,” van der Putten said.

The $5.5 billion City Rail Link, a 3.4km underground rail tunnel between Britomart and Mt Eden station, is due to open in 2026.