History of the Southern Line

The Southern Line is the most important and influential railway line in the whole rail network in Auckland. It stretches from Britomart all the way down to Papakura in the south. The line also extends further down to Pukekohe but the line between Papakura and Pukekohe is not currently electrified meaning that when arriving at Papakura, you have to get off a train and swap to an old diesel train used before Auckland's rail line was electrified. This is often considered the Pukekohe connection but it is also technically part of the southern line if asked to Auckland Transport

The southern line is one of the oldest lines to exist in Auckland. It was originally a single tracked railway and it was the main entrance into Auckland when it was built in 1909. The line was at the time the only railway entrance into Auckland from the south between 1909 and 1930. After these years, the Westfield diversion was opened. This is more commonly known today as the Eastern Line in the rail network. This then ceased operations between the Auckland Railway Station (Strand) and Westfield via Newmarket to become part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway. which ran from Wellington To Whangarei via Westfield and Newmarket. This meant the use of the track between Newmarket and Auckland Railway Station was abandoned until the Auckland suburban rail network was put in place. And this created what we know as the Southern line today.

There have been not many extensions or changes to the Southern line in recent years. Thars because unlike the rest of the current network, The southern line was always there as the main entrance into Auckland. the only major extension or upgrade in recent years was the opening of Britomart station in Downtown Auckland. But that affected all the rail lines just as much as the southern.

 The southern line I believe has been very important to Auckland's rail network. connecting people who live a solid 30kms away from Auckland's CBD, and transporting them and connecting them to every single corner of the Auckland. The southern line has always and will continue to play a big role in Auckland's rail network.

This is the last episode of the 4 part series on The history of Auckland's Suburban rail network

Waikato Expressway: Hamilton to Tauranga

As I hope most people know, If you are going on State Highway 1 from Auckland to Hamilton, You may notice that there is a lot of construction work going on between these two hubs.This is because State Highway 1 between Auckland and Hamilton has been classified as a Road of national significance (RONS). This means that hopefully by 2020, The road between Auckland and Hamilton would be all two lanes between both cities.This would mean that Auckland and Hamilton would be the first two major cities in New Zealand to be connected by a full on Expressway.

This is because all the Auckland, Waikato and Bay Of Plenty regions carry 56% of New Zealand's freight travels and movements. Which is an extremely big number.So that got me thinking, what if they extended the waikato expressway to Tauranga?

This would be very good for freight movements in Tauranga because Tauranga has been regarded to have one of the biggest ports in New Zealand (But of course, Auckland's still the biggest) and it would be much easier, faster and safer to have a smoother road to help transport these goods. i think the best option would only go from Hamilton to Tauranga. So there would be no Auckland to Tauranga Expressway.As this would be the much more costly and would take much longer to complete.Below is my idea of where the route could possibly go

I have split the expressway into 5 sections. And you may be able to see an exit at Piarere towards Tirau. For me this made sense because it had the opportunity to split lots of time off from the current State Highway 1 which currently takes a pointless undercut.I have also said that it would be more economical to upgrade Takitimu Road to be 2 lanes each way other then 1 lane each way. This would be good for in future where we don't have to pay more to do something as small as this. And it would be able to give enough space for Freight movers to drive and get to there destination more frequently. The hardest section would probably be the Kaimai Mamaku Section. this is because the terrain here is very steep which could mean that there has to be constant viaducts and maybe even tunnels. Which will not only be expensive but can be very difficult to build.

With this all explained i think that this would be very efficient and it would be great to see even if the government considers doing this. But in total, I think that with this expressway in action. It could potentially take up almost 20 minutes off the trip from Hamilton to Tauranga. which considering its current time of an hour and a half. Thats a good amount of time saved.

This is not a proposed option by the NZTA or the New Zealand Government. I made this just to show people what it could look like with an expressway in place. But don't take this post to believe that this is actually happening.This is just a proposal by me.

The Future of Auckland's port

Recently, the government and the Auckland council have released a plan too get rid of the Ports of Auckland. This could have some huge benefits for us Aucklanders, But with a big cost

As you can see above, the port takes up a huge amount of space. So imagine all this area being free for all of us Aucklanders to use. most of this land will most likely be used as apartments and residential areas.Which is desperately what Auckland needs. more houses to to fulfill our increasing population.And it could not be in a better spot. But plans not only include residential facilities. Plans could also include a couple of brand new inner city beaches,boardwalks, canals and tonnes of recreational space. This would be great because it could be another reason to get people out to enjoy the City.

The plans not only include the reconstruction of the port, They also include the construction of a brand new stadium to potentially replace Eden Park as New Zealand's national stadium. This is would be incredible if this those happen, but it would be in such a tricky location.This is because the Stadium would end up going on top of the railway junction into Britomart which could potentially mean the Railway tracks would have to go underground. which could be very interesting

As exciting as this all sounds. This is just a proposed idea of what could possibly happen when the Ports 30 year budget and plan ends. As when this ends, the port will have to end up moving up to Whangarei. But lets hope this happens soon because I would like my waterfront again.

Albert Park Tunnels

The Albert Park Tunnels are currently a group of old war time bunkers under Auckland city's albert park.They were used during the second world war as bunkers and as air raid shelters.The Main tunnel runs from the end of Victoria Street East all the way under Albert park and Auckland University,To finally open back up at Grafton Gully.Well Auckland Council have just recently had some exciting for what to do with them

Auckland Council have recently announced that they are going to reopen The main tunnel for the public's use.They want to open it just in the time for the America's cup.This couldn't be in a better location because since The tunnel is on Victoria street, it will be able to connect to the proposed Linear park which will be a prioritised walking/Bus route which goes completely along Victoria street all the way too Victoria park.This will mean we will be able to walk a completely from east Auckland CBD all the way to The western part.

What the government plan to do (over my knowledge) with the tunnels is put some rich restaurants through the entire tunnel, and make it a type of mall.They also plan to put some glow worm lights to create an effect like Waitomo caves in Otorohanga This will be really nice as since Auckland is the gateway to New Zealand, its gives another a more unique tourist attraction in the heart of the city centre.It also creates a more significantly easier access point from east Auckland and the University towards the future Aotea Train station.Which I can imagine would bring in a lot of traffic.Apparently Auckland Council says it could open in six months,If it starts construction soon that is...