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