Auckland Airport Line

The Auckland Airport Line is a proposed railway line in Auckland, New Zealand to serve Auckland International Airport by connecting to the Auckland rail network by an extension of the (electrified) Onehunga Branch line.

The main barrier was the crossing of the Manukau Harbour between Onehunga and the suburb Mangere Bridge. Transit New Zealand announced in 2007 that a new motorway bridge duplicating, and alongside, the existing 1983 Mangere Bridge would be designed to accommodate a rail link.^[1] In September 2007, Auckland Regional Transport Authority announced that it was willing to pay Transit $2.5 million to "future-proof" the duplication of the Manukau harbour crossing in order "to accommodate a passenger rail connection".

The duplication of the bridge was completed in 2010.^[2] The new bridge can accommodate a rail link, and the successor to Transit New Zealand, NZ Transport Agency, provided for a rail corridor near the motorway as far as Walmsley Road. The proposed line was the most popular with the public of the three Auckland rail proposals of Mayor Len Brown, although the number of trains would be limited without the City Rail Link to Britomart Transport Centre.^[3]

Mayor Brown had promised a rail link to the Airport during his 2010 election campaign as part of a package of measures to double public transport patronage within 15 years.^[4]

The official name for the airport link in the Long-term Plan 2012–2022 is the South Western Airport Multi Modal Corridor Project.^[5]

The Airport rail link planning study commenced in 2010.^[6]

Escalating costs (estimated at $1.63b) for the preferred route of a heavy rail line to the Airport have prompted some to raise the possibility of the route being served by light rail as an alternative to heavy rail. This option would make use of existing infrastructure where possible to reduce expenses and involve an interchange with existing heavy rail services at Onehunga.^[7]

The Auckland Airport company has asked for a decision by mid-2016 whether a rail or bus station will be needed at the airport, as it is planning a new domestic terminal, with construction starting in 2021.^[8]

References

↑ Dearnaley, Mathew (9 February 2007). "Transit opens door to cross-harbour rail link to airport". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
↑ "Mangere Bridge opened today". New Zealand Herald. 25 July 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
↑ Dearnaley, Mathew (7 September 2007). "Stuck in traffic". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
↑ Orsman, Bernard (31 August 2009). "Brown vows her'll unite not divide". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
↑
- "Long Term Plan". Auckland City Council. 29 June 2014.
↑
- "airport rail planning study to go ahead/". Campaign for Better Transport. 29 September 2010.
↑ Dearnaley, Mathew (17 November 2014). "Costs spark new look at trams to airport". NZ Herald. Auckland: APN New Zealand. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
↑ "Why trams to Auckland Airport are bad idea". New Zealand Herald (Editorial). 5 January 2016.

New Zealand railway lines

Main lines

North Island	East Coast Main Trunk North Island Main Trunk (inc. Kapiti Line)

South Island	Main North Line and Main South Line (inc. Lyttelton Line), known together as the South Island Main Trunk

Secondary lines

North Island	Marton–New Plymouth Line Newmarket Line North Auckland Line Palmerston North–Gisborne Line Stratford–Okahukura Line Wairarapa Line (inc. Hutt Valley Line)

South Island	Midland Line Nelson Section Otago Central Railway Stillwater–Westport Line Waimea Plains Railway

Branch lines

Upper North Island	Cambridge Dargaville Donnellys Crossing Glen Afton Kinleith Kumeu–Riverhead Manukau Mount Maunganui Murupara Okaihau Onehunga Onerahi Opua Rotorua Taneatua Thames Waiuku and Mission Bush

Lower North Island	Ahuriri Castlecliff Foxton Gracefield Greytown Johnsonville Melling Mount Egmont Moutohora Ngatapa Opunake Raetihi Taonui Te Aro Waitara Wanganui

Upper South Island	Blackball and Roa Cape Foulwind Conns Creek Eyreton Fairlie Ferrymead Little River Methven Mount Somers Oxford Rapahoe Rewanui Hokitika/Ross Seddonville Southbridge Waiau Waimate Whitecliffs

Lower South Island	Bluff Catlins River Dunback and Makareao Fernhill Hedgehope Kingston Kurow Moeraki Mossburn Ngapara and Tokarahi Outram Port Chalmers Roxburgh Shag Point Tapanui Tokanui Tuatapere Waikaia Waikaka Wairio Walton Park Wyndham

Private lines

Significant proposals

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