Auckland–Newmarket Line

The Auckland–Newmarket Line, or the Newmarket Branch, is a railway line in Auckland, New Zealand. It is 2.64 km long and runs between Quay Park Junction, near Britomart Transport Centre, and Newmarket Train Station. It connects the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT), which runs into Britomart via the waterfront, and the North Auckland Line, which runs between Westfield and Otiria via Newmarket and Whangarei. The branch serves as part of the Southern Line, Western Line and Onehunga Line of the MAXX commuter network.

Since 1915 it is 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.^[1]

In 2007 the major junction that connects the Newmarket Line with the North Auckland Line (NAL) and 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 the Auckland area and the Newmarket Station and Junction is included in the stage one electrification of the network.

The line is proposed to receive a new train station at Parnell in the 2010s.^[2]

References

1. ^ "The Parnell Tunnel An Engineering Feat". Evening Post: p. 3. 11 March 1915. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19150311.2.34. Retrieved 12 January 2011. 
2. ^ "ARC presses for Parnell train station". The New Zealand Herald. 30 September 2010. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10677055. Retrieved 12 January 2011.