Ellerslie Railway Station

Ellerslie
Auckland Transport Urban rail
Location	Auckland City
Coordinates	36°53′55″S 174°48′30″E / 36.8987°S 174.8082°E
Owned by	KiwiRail and Auckland Transport
Line(s)	Southern Line
Platforms	Island platform
Tracks	Mainline (2)
Construction
Platform levels	1
Parking	No
Bicycle facilities	No
Electrified	25kV AC[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2009)	1,264 passengers/day
Services
KiwiRail   Preceding station   Auckland Transport (Transdev)   Following station Greenlane toward Britomart Southern Line Penrose toward Papakura Onehunga Line Penrose toward Onehunga

Ellerslie Railway Station is on the Southern Line of the Auckland railway network. It has an island platform.

Access to Station

Access to the station at the northern end is by a ramp down from the footbridge crossing the SH1 Southern Motorway between Main Highway, Ellerslie and Kalmia Street. At the southern end of the station there is an underpass between Findlay Street and Sultan Street.

History

In December 1873 a railway line between Auckland and Onehunga via Newmarket, Ellerslie and Penrose was opened with great public celebration. The line through Ellerslie subsequently became part of the North Island Main Trunk and later the North Auckland Line, with the branch line from Penrose to Onehunga becoming the Onehunga Branch. The station at Ellerslie was initially between the railway bridges, with the main road running directly through the village and intersecting the line at a level crossing. By 1874 residents became concerned at a number of accidents that had occurred at the crossing and successfully lobbied for relocation of the station to the opposite side of the road, requiring realignment of the road to its present route. The railway encouraged suburban settlement and allowed a daily delivery of letters to the station until the opening of a post office in 1911 and also provided a telegraph office.^[2]

From its opening the station was extremely busy with passengers and goods travelling to the port of Onehunga, visitors to the racecourse and gardens, and racehorses travelling from around New Zealand to compete at Ellerslie racecourse. Four or five sidings were constructed specifically for horse boxes and hundreds of residents often gathered to witness their arrival and unloading. The station has had a variety of footbridges, one of which was involved in a 1943 derailment where the train's engine caused the bridge to collapse after striking the supports.^[3]

Train traffic increased considerably with industrial development, and between 1950 and 1959, when William Durbridge was appointed stationmaster, up to ten staff members were permanently employed. In November 1959 a new station with modern loading facilities was opened at Tamaki and Durbridge was subsequently transferred, Ellerslie becoming passenger-only.

In 1960 the sidings were torn up to provide space for the Southern Motorway. The old station was severely damaged by fire in the early 1970s and was demolished in 1972. A shelter was then built and this was in turn replaced by smaller shelters in the mid-1990s. A new station similar to those elsewhere on the Auckland suburban system was opened in 2009.

Services

Transdev Auckland, on behalf of Auckland Transport, operates suburban services to Britomart, Onehunga, Papakura and Pukekohe via Ellerslie. The typical weekday off-peak timetable is:^[4]

• 5 tph to Britomart
• 3 tph to Papakura, with 1 tph continuing to Pukekohe
• 2 tph to Onehunga

See also

• List of Auckland railway stations

References

1. "Auckland Electrifcation Map" (PDF). KiwiRail. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
2. "Cap and Jacket". Observer. 15 April 1882. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
3. "Engine Derailed - Brings Down Overhead Bridge". Evening Post. 4 January 1943. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
4. "Southern Line timetable from 8 December 2014" (PDF). Auckland Transport. Retrieved 21 November 2014.