Proximity of AKL to Rail Tracks

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MikeAqua

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#215405 26-Jun-2017 13:40

I was looking on Maps the other day when I noticed just how close Auckland Airport is to the existing rail tracks, and there appears to be mostly agricultural land and a small amount of industrial land in between.

Clearly I am missing something (possibly many things) to me a branch line for the airport looks ... feasible.

Mike

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#1806946 26-Jun-2017 13:40

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trig42

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#1806952 26-Jun-2017 13:48

The airport is pretty close to the tracks at Puhinui/Manukau.

It would also be a relatively simple job getting tracks from there to the Airport.

The issue I think is capacity on the main line - if you had to slot in regular Airport trips, they would take up slots on the main tracks, meaning less frequent services to/from Papakura-Britomart.

The preferred route is to either go down Dominion Road and follow SH20 into the Airport (which would also service the high employment zones around Mangere Bridge and the Airport Precinct) with Light Rail, or extend the Heavy Rail from Onehunga. The Mayor and Government have both said Heavy Rail is not going to the Airport.

As an aside, and I am about to write to my MP (Nikki Kaye) - I am looking at changing my vote this year for the first time ever (always voted National) as National keeps on insisting that the way to fix Auckland's transport issues is to keep building roads (see the consultation has started on the E-W link through Onehunga - ~$1.8bn would build A LOT of public transport - Light Rail - Busway along NW motorway, a start on Mass Transit/LR to the shore...).

If Labour or the Greens (or Winnie the Pooh) have a better transport for Auckland policy, I will vote for them.

jonb

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#1806994 26-Jun-2017 14:02

This is a good analysis, by a very pro public transport group but highlights the difficulties..
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2017/04/03/what-about-airport-heavy-rail-from-puhinui/

MikeAqua

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#1806998 26-Jun-2017 14:22

Thanks make sense when you read that.

Mike

eracode

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#1807039 26-Jun-2017 15:30

trig42:

The airport is pretty close to the tracks at Puhinui/Manukau.

It would also be a relatively simple job getting tracks from there to the Airport.

The issue I think is capacity on the main line - if you had to slot in regular Airport trips, they would take up slots on the main tracks, meaning less frequent services to/from Papakura-Britomart.

With respect, I find it very hard to believe that an airport rail link would disrupt the Papakura-Britomart service. As a layman I would have thought those lines could easily take double the relatively-infrequent traffic currently on them.

I've never thought about this before but looking at the map now I see it's only about 5 km from the airport to Puhinui station and almost all of that is farmland alongside Puhinui Road. It looks like a no-brainer to put in a rail link that way to get to the city. Surely a hell of a lot easier than putting a new light-rail up through Dominion Rd etc - even though the Puhinui link would be a longer-way-round.

We have travelled quite a bit in the UK, Europe and North America over the past 15 years and pretty much every international airport we have used overseas has a rail link with its city - but we all know this. If I could get from to/from AKL/Britomart on a rail link, we would use it.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

trig42

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#1807067 26-Jun-2017 16:07

eracode:

trig42:

The airport is pretty close to the tracks at Puhinui/Manukau.

It would also be a relatively simple job getting tracks from there to the Airport.

The issue I think is capacity on the main line - if you had to slot in regular Airport trips, they would take up slots on the main tracks, meaning less frequent services to/from Papakura-Britomart.

With respect, I find it very hard to believe that an airport rail link would disrupt the Papakura-Britomart service. As a layman I would have thought those lines could easily take double the relatively-infrequent traffic currently on them.

I've never thought about this before but looking at the map now I see it's only about 5 km from the airport to Puhinui station and almost all of that is farmland alongside Puhinui Road. It looks like a no-brainer to put in a rail link that way to get to the city. Surely a hell of a lot easier than putting a new light-rail up through Dominion Rd etc - even though the Puhinui link would be a longer-way-round.

We have travelled quite a bit in the UK, Europe and North America over the past 15 years and pretty much every international airport we have used overseas has a rail link with its city - but we all know this. If I could get from to/from AKL/Britomart on a rail link, we would use it.

I think you'll find it would be quite difficult. There are a lot of services there, and when the CRL opens, there will be more.

The blog post mentioned above is about the best analysis I've seen (and it is written on a blog that is pro-Public Transport).

Dyson

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Jase2985

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#1807140 26-Jun-2017 18:19

@eracode they ar almost at capacity when it comes to the main line around the manukau area. its amplified by the fact that the manukau branch has to cross 1 of the tracks to go north, and its likely to be the same for a puhanui branch. this slows train traffic down. add to the fact that Kiwi rail also have slots built in for freight trains there is not much more you can do there with out adding the third main line.

its also not easy to put in, there is a lot of houses there that would need to way for this + a motorway it would need to avoid. would be better/easier to put in a bus lane and a shuttle bus to the airport for the short/medium term till they finally get into the botany light rail line.

eracode

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#1807148 26-Jun-2017 18:27

Fair points and TBH I never thought about the fairly pathetic capacity of Britomart itself.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Jase2985

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#1807152 26-Jun-2017 18:35

eracode:

Fair points and TBH I never thought about the fairly pathetic capacity of Britomart itself.

that is being fixed with the CRL