Newmarket Line

Rail works of recent years, such as the triangle north of Newmarket, have incorporated provision for electrification, such as base foundations. Recent bridge works have increased clearances for the catenary.
The same junction as above in December 2010, with some of the traction poles in place, although as yet unfinished.

The Newmarket Line is a railway line in Auckland, New Zealand, that runs between Quay Park Junction, near Britomart Transport Centre, and Newmarket Train Station. It is 2.64 km long. It connects the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT), which runs into Britomart via the waterfront, and the North Auckland Line (NAL), which runs between Westfield and Otiria via Newmarket and Whangarei. It serves as parts of the Southern Line, Western Line and Onehunga Line of the Auckland commuter network. It has been named the Newmarket Line since 2011.[1] It was named the Auckland–Newmarket Line from 1996 to 2011,[2] as it ran from the Auckland Railway Station until the station closed in 2003. It was named the Newmarket Branch Railway from 1977 to 1996.[2]

Since 1915 it has been fully double tracked after an upgrade of Parnell Tunnel north of Newmarket. Previous to that, it led as a single track section through a previous Parnell Tunnel.[3]

In 2007 the major junction that connects the Newmarket Line with the North Auckland Line was rebuilt into a 'wye junction', removing the time consuming reversing backshunt needed to access the NAL to the north from the Newmarket Line, thus giving the line better access to Britomart Station. This is part of a big upgrade of rail infrastructure in Auckland and the Newmarket Station and Junction is included in the stage one electrification of the network.

Construction of a new railway station on the line at Parnell is nearing completion.

References

  1. "Newmarket Line". Land Information New Zealand. Retrieved October 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Geographic Name Proposal Report - Newmarket Line" (PDF). Land Information New Zealand. 29 April 2011. Retrieved October 2014.
  3. "The Parnell tunnel: An engineering feat". Evening Post. 11 March 1915. p. 3. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
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