Newmarket Line

Newmarket Line
Legend
Waitematā
The Strand
North Island Main Trunk
to Wellington
Ronayne Street
The Strand
Parnell Rise
Carlaw Park Avenue
Parnell
Cowie Street
North Auckland Line
to Whangarei
Newmarket
North Auckland Line
to Westfield Junction
This diagram:
Map
Map

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

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.

Southern Line, Western Line and Onehunga Line services of the Auckland rail network travel on this line.

The Newmarket Line was originally opened in 1873 as the northern portion of Auckland's first railway to Onehunga via Penrose. It was part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway until the Westfield Deviation opened in 1930.[3]

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.[4]

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 Waitematā Station. This was part of a big upgrade of rail infrastructure in Auckland, and the Newmarket Station and Junction was included in the stage one electrification of the network.

A new station, Parnell, began operation on the line at the suburb of the same name on 12 March 2017 to serve the Western and Southern Lines of the city's train network, with an official opening on 13 March.[5]

  1. ^ "Newmarket Line". Land Information New Zealand. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Geographic Name Proposal Report - Newmarket Line" (PDF). Land Information New Zealand. 29 April 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ^ Yonge 1985, p. 3.
  4. ^ "The Parnell tunnel: An engineering feat". The Evening Post. 11 March 1915. p. 3. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  5. ^ Fitzgerald, Mary (14 March 2017). "Businesses and residents delighted with Parnell train station opening". Stuff. Retrieved 18 April 2017.