History Of The Western Line

The Auckland Western line Stretches from Britomart Transport centre in The City,All the way to Swanson in West Auckland.It is also the service that stops at the most stations.with a total of 18 stations including the new Parnell station.

By the early 20th century, The railway ran between what's now known as Auckland strand,to Henderson with some mixed services extending to Hellensville.You can still see evidence that there was a service to Helensville over at the local station.But by 1980,Colin Mclaughlin who was the minister of railways at the time,decided to stop services to helensville meaning trains would stop at Waitakere station.Colin Mclaughlin was famous in New Zealand railway history because he was known for closing most of the all of New Zealands passenger railway services.Including the train from Christchurch to Dunedin.In 2015,while the electrification programme was going on in Auckland's railways,The council decided to close the service to Waitakere due to ever decreasing numbers.So today the western line only extends to Swanson.

Suprisingly,The Western wasen't double tracked until 2005.When "Project Boston" Happend.Project boston was the double tracking of the western line between Boston road station( Now known as Grafton) and Morningside station.Double tracking rapidly came to quickly to the whole western line and by 2010,The whole western line was double tracked.With a bunch of extra upgrades to stations like Mt Albert,Henderson and much more.This finnaly made trains come more frequently and more importently,give way to electrified railway

The Western line may probably be the Railway that is the most Dangerous and has had the most closures,But this railway is absolutely full of history that I could not possibly fit into this one blog post.This railway opens up all of west Auckland and brings it to the City and back again.But although it is an amazingly historical line,it still can take up to 70 minutes to get to the city from Swanson.I wonder if there is a railway being built to help fix this problem?

What will Labour do to help shape Auckland for the better?

As you may have heard over the past couple of weeks,Labour has gone into government with a coalition agreement with The green's and New Zealand First.This is a very interesting turn out as no one would expect New Zealand First to would go and work with the greens.

So what does this mean for Auckland? Will we hopefully see any new changes to New Zealand's Largest and most economical city?Well the new chosen Housing and Transport minister of Labour,Phil Twyford has said we wan't to invest more into Rail,Cycling and walking and less on road infrastructure.This also means that the east-west link in Onehunga has been put on a stand still.He also said that they are hoping to start creating rapid transit from the city to Auckland Airport.This is very exciting and important because this will mean we will finally have a direct rapid public transport link from the CBD and New Zealands biggest Airport.This will bring in much more money for All of New Zealand and not only Auckland.

It's Not only Auckland either,Labour have announced that they are also hoping to invest in Regional Rapid Rail between the surrounding regions of Waikato and Bay of Plenty.This is what Auckland Desperately needs.A frequent and good passenger rail line between Auckland,Hamilton and Tauranga.Labour explained that they are also hoping to start this next year.This will be amazing for all of New Zealand,not just these cities.Greater Auckland originally proposed this concept, and here is what the map for it.

It would be an incredible stride for Auckland and it would bring a lot of potential extensions to Cambridge,Te kuiti and we could bring back the geyserland service to Rotorua.But Labour most likely will pay for most of this with a regional fuel tax for Aucklanders.Which has a few cons and pros.I say pros because it could get people using public transport more instead of taking a car.which would very good.There are tonnes more things labour will do to Auckland to help get our city more livable,beautiful and with all these transport opportunities they have.It'll help get Auckland's blood really pum

Labour's Transport policies

As you probably have heard, Jacinda Ardern has taken over Andrew Little's place as Leader of the Labour party.And I think the change has really helped labor's popularity by quite a bit.

One thing I like About The New Labor Party compared to the National party is there Transport policies.I really find that they are perfect to the Future needs of all of Auckland.She said that there promise was to:

• Put Light Rail to the Airport
• create Light Rail besides the Northwestern motorway
• Finally do the congestion free network

Now if you don't know what the congestion free network is, it is a Rail and Bus Network created by Greater Auckland( Formerly Transport Blog) and Generation Zero.It was originally made in 2013.But they have recently updated it about 2 months ago and so it looks like this.

This will also mean that Labor will finally do rail to the North Shore. The National party's transport policies for Auckland are not that good at all.They are basically saying to put more roads. Which doesn't actually help Auckland congestion. In an earlier post,I  talked about if you make to try and stop congestion,It'll just make things worse because it will give people the idea that they have to drive.The only problem with labour's policies is that they will have to put a regional fuel tax for cars making it likely be 10 cents more expensive.But in a way that's good It could help people get out of there cars and use public transport instead.which is better for all of us.

Akoranga Park and Ride

About 2 months ago, Fair go was talking about something that sounded really interesting to me.The parking space in Akoranga Bus Station.

Now, this really interested me because this is actually the closest station on the shore, and it doesn't have a park and ride.This makes it really hard to park in one of Auckland's busiest Bus stations.There are a couple of parking spaces at the station. but it is really small and you have to pay to park there.The closest Park and Ride on the Busway is constellation which is 6 kilometers away from Akoranga. A park and ride are much needed for a growing urban area like Takapuna. it brings a better sense of safety and security. That's why it would create an impotent and significant change to the local businesses of Akoranga.The solution is simple. Right next door to the bus station, there is a big open field which is only used for sewage.It has tonnes of space for extensions in the future, and could potentially bring more businesses to the area.Here is a map of where this is.

In my opinion, I think it is a perfect location to put it there. it is close to the Bus station, it has tonnes of room to expand and it have a big significance on businesses in the Akoranga Area.And that's just a couple of reasons why it would be very important.I don't know why the government aren't allowing to do this. It's pretty stupid since Akoranga station is the closest bus station on the North Shore.What do you think?

Extending Grater Auckland

If you live in Auckland, You might have noticed that there are a lot of apartments coming up around the suburbs.This is mostly because of the unitary plan. Auckland council a basically making more apartments (not houses) because they are trying to lower the cost of houses. And I think it's working very well.

But it's not just happening in local areas. The unitary plan also says that they are also building new suburbs in rural areas. So in 30 years, places like Dairy flat,Pokeno and even Kumeu will be all urbanised and will be capable of holding the young generation of Auckland.Altogether, Around 4500 houses are being created.

Obviously if these plans do go ahead (which they are most likely too) they will need good transport links. For example, I think a smart option for Northwest Auckland would be too reclaim the track between Swanson and Waimuku. But currently,Auckland Transport are investigating that.For the north of Auckland, one thing that is happening is Ara tuhuno, The extension of the northern motorway. to Wellsford. This is definitely happening because it is one of New Zealand's road of national significance. So that is very good.

History of the Onehunga Line

The Onehunga line is the shortest railway line in Auckland with only six railway stations.The Railway Starts at Britomart and ends at Onehunga Town centre.It also is the only Rail line that has a single track railway bit.

The onehunga Line was technically opened in 1873 but it was only used for freight services to the port.It was opened for public transport use in 2010 though.The railway back then was used for freight services because it was a good way to connect inner city freight to the ports in Onehunga. The Onehunga line was then closed in 2006 because of less demand for freight services to Onehunga. It was soon Reopened in 2010 and was brought by Maxx(Auckland Transport) And is now known as the Onehunga line starting from Britomart An ending in Onehunga.

The Onehunga lounge may be the newest line in Auckland but it would be one of the best investments Auckland Transport has made. Onehunga station is always full of people meaning there is obviously lots of demand. I think the future of the Onehunga line is pretty clear: When demand reaches capacity, make the line double tracked and maybe, just maybe in the very long future, we could extend it down to Auckland Airport.

The Crater

The other day, The New Zealand Herald released an article about this man who created a new design for a stadium on the port.The design is called "The Crater" and to be honest i think it is and extremely unique and great design.

This is a very unique design because instead of any other stadium that just goes up, This stadium is underground. This would be a very unique thing for Auckland and I think it could easily be something that makes us worth knowing about.Its also much cheaper then an original stadium because the government wouldn't have to pay for any outside walls.But the main problem I'm seeing is that if it rained,(Which seems to be happening a lot) it could cause a lot of problems underground.But other then that, I think it should definitely go ahead.

Phil Goff is really liking the idea (mostly because it's cheap) so I would say that if this did go to plan, then i would see this happening in about 10 years. It would be so good to have to have a waterfront stadium on our waterfront.It would get rid of massive disgusting chunk off the port to build something that we Aucklander's could be proud of.

History of the Eastern Line

This is a new Blog series where I will talk about the History of all the railways lines in Auckland starting with the Eastern Line.The Eastern line was built in 1930 and it was the newest piece of rail infrastructure in Auckland ever since the opening of the  Manukau railway spur.It goes through 11 stations and it is all completely double tracked.

The Eastern line was originally proposed in 1870.The reason they built it was mostly because of the Southern line. The Newmarket line(Also known as the southern Line) was the only railway at that time that left Auckland central. .Now at this time in 1870,Railways were extremely popular in New Zealand. everyone wanted to catch the train. but on this double track

line railway between Auckland and pukekohe, This obviously meant that traffic was starting to pop up and delays were happening frequently.

 The solution was simple. to create a bypass railway passing Newmarket and the busy rail traffic altogether. this would obviously be the eastern line.this was a perfect option because it would help ease congestion on the Newmarket line and it would also bring growth to places like Panmure and Meadowbank. the eastern line used to go all the way to Papakura but in early 2012,The Manukau extension was open finally connecting one of Auckland's biggest Metropolitan area's to the CBD.

The eastern has had loads of redevelopments over the years including the Panmure station upgrade and the electrification of its railways. But I must say.I think it has had a very good past, and I am excited to see what the future holds for it.

Light rail to Auckland Airport

Last week, Auckland Transport an the NZTA announced that they where finally going to put a light railway to Auckland Airport. I disagree with the idea of putting light rail to the airport because we have to start all the way from scratch, while with heavy rail, we can just continue it on from there.

The Light rail network will be going through Queen Street in central Auckland(And hopefully they could finally make it pedestrian)and onto Dominion Road. There has been some discussion on where the stations would be but I think the best options will be at Valley Road, Balmoral, Mount Roskill and Hillsborough. It would then properly connect to Onehunga Train Station and continue down to the Airport going through Mangere. Here is a video showing more about where it could possibly go.

I disagree with this only because how the government is starting from scratch on this and it will properly take more time to construct. With heavy rail, it will take shorter amounts of time, it will be faster and also it is very convenient. The only big problem with putting heavy rail towards the airport is that it will cost a lot more money.But one thing the government don't really understand is that to make money, you need to spend money.

Review Post: Newmarket

Newmarket is one of the best places in Auckland for shopping and it is only 7 minutes away from Auckland City. It would definitely be known as Auckland-s second CBD. Newmarket is just below Parnell, and just above Epsom.

Newmarket's Train Station has been updated very recently and it might be one of my favourite train station's in Auckland. With its modern design and architecture, It would properly be one of my favourite stations.The old train station had only 2 platforms and was only an island platform so this station has been really improved really well. Newmarket's main street is Broadway and is one of the most incredible streets in all of Auckland due to all the people and beauty it holds.I would say it is the Times Square of New Zealand.

Building in Auckland

Auckland's skyline will be much different in the next couple of years. this is thanks to big infrastructure projects like the City Rail Link and the Nelson ST Cycle way. So in this post today, I will just explain some of those buildings.

1 Mills Lane

1 Mills Lane is the Name of a Hotel/Retail building in Auckland. It should be about 30 storeys high making it 190m high.The closest train station would be Britomart station.It is currently still in investigation but construction will most properly happen soon.

NDG Auckland Centre

The NDG Tower will be the Second tallest building in Auckland once completed.It is mixed Commercial/Retail/Hotel and also a Cinema.Another name for it is the Elliot tower and it will be 209m high.The nearest train Station would be Aotea station when it is completed and Construction is going to start in late 2017.

Downtown Tower

The Downtown tower is the final building I will talk about today.It will be a mix of Retail and commercial and it is also known as commercial bay.It will be 167m high making it the 3rd tallest building in Auckland after the NDG Auckland Centre.The closest train station would be Britomart and construction has already started. completion is October 2019

The Rangitoto Line

The Rangitoto Line is the name I give to a light rail line which I think will be very useful for The North Shore and the East Coast Bays.It will go from Devonport Wharf to Long bay via Takapuna Beach and Browns Bay.It will have Shuttle connections from Browns Bay to Albany Park and Ride and Takapuna Beach to Akoranga. Also the Devonport ferry would become more frequent.making connecting services to Downtown.

I call it the Rangitoto Line because of how it will be on The East Coast and All Beach's in the North Shore have views of Rangitoto. The route will go mostly along Beach Road and through the coast.This route will Bring an alternative and frequent public Transport method to the East Coast Bays.Not only that. It will take cars off lake road which is one of the worst roads for Traffic in Auckland.

Waterview Connection Update

The Waterview connection is only a couple of months away from completion. And I must say, I am really excited for it to open. It will finally unlock a ring route around Auckland's CBD and it will also give a much faster route into the airport.

It is meant to open in April 2017 and by all the all of the photos you can tell that April looks very close.Construction began in 2012 and it coast a solid $1.4 billion.It is sad to see the construction go but it is going to bring so much benefits to Auckland.

Auckland's ferry

Auckland is known as the city of sails.That makes sense because every time I look out into the Waitamata harbour.It is like traffic jam in the water.The one problem Auckland has about boats is that they don't come very frequently.I'm obviously talking about ferries.

There are 15 ferries trips in Auckland mostly going to the north.The most frequent one goes from the Downtown ferry terminal to Devonport wharf and that comes every half an hour.That is really good timing because every time a ferry comes to Devenport,it is jam packed. I think they need to make more ferry's like this in the North Shore and East Coast Bays. Because Currently, These two areas, are really lacking from transport options.But heres the solution to fix that problem.
They should put a couple of ferry routes going to Takapuna and Browns bays towards Downtown.This would be very convenient because I know that lots of people will properly use it.It is much needed in especially in the North Shore. What would be even better is opening a new ferry route too Murrays bay (Just south of Browns Bay) Because they have just finished renovating there wharf.This is much needed in Auckland. And if we want to stay being called the City of sails. We have do something about it.

Review Post: Sylvia Park

The other day, I went to Sylvia park for the first.and it was massive.it had shops absolutely everywhere. I didn't know where to begin.Sylvia park is a massive mall that is meant to be one of the biggest in New Zealand. It has just under 200 stores and it was opened in mid 2006.

Sylvia park has good transport connections to the city centre such as frequent trains coming every 10 minutes and since the new bus network has come out since September last year, it has had really good connections to major southern metropolitan areas such as Manukau and Mangere. Sylvia park has a lot of big stores in it such as Pak'n save (Which is very odd because I never have seen a Pak'n save inside a mall) Kmart and the warehouse extra.

In a way, I feel like Sylvia Park was a lot like Albany.it was all mostly farm land and they slowly made it grow. Albany was really horrible, but I think their really turning it round to look a lot like what Sylvia park is today.