Rail network reopens after successful upgrades

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The Easter-Anzac closedown allowed for the removal of rail and sleepers and to dig down to replace aging track foundations on the Western Line near Henderson. The dump trucks are stacked up to take away the old foundations. Photos supplied

The second temporary closure of the year for upgrades of Auckland’s rail network is over, with KiwiRail saying all the scheduled jobs were completed.

As passenger trains returned to service today, April 28, Auckland’s rapidly growing Franklin community “will benefit from trains running twice as often at peak times”, say KiwiRail and Auckland Transport (AT).

“This is possible because of the huge progress made across the rail network during the April rail closure.”

KiwiRail says its teams “undertook upgrade and renewal works at more than 80 sites across Auckland’s rail network during the two-week closure”.

“About 900 workers continued to deliver an ambitious programme including major infrastructure projects, as KiwiRail and AT ready the rail network for the faster, more frequent train services the City Rail Link (CRL) will bring when it opens next year.”

The rail elements of the Wiri to Quay Park (W2QP) Third Main Line project are now complete and entering the operational readiness phase, KiwiRail says.

“This critical project on the Southern Line separates passenger and freight trains on the busiest parts of the Auckland network.”

David Gordon, KiwiRail’s chief capital planning and asset development officer, says: “Despite some appalling weather, all projects we’d planned for the 16-day shutdown are now complete after KiwiRail teams successfully managed a large amount of work safely within tight deadlines.

“I’m really proud of our hard-working staff and contractors who gave up their Easter and Anzac breaks to make a big dent in the upgrade and renewal programme needed before the CRL can open.

“The Wiri to Quay Park project completion is a major mark of maturity for the Auckland rail network, keeping freight and commuters moving into the future.

“The Third Main Line, the newly triple-tracked section between Wiri and Westfield, provides a separate track for freight trains, meaning faster and more reliable transportation for KiwiRail’s valued freight customers,” Gordon says.

“This milestone follows the opening earlier this year of the Papakura to Pukekohe newly electrified section of the network, with a redeveloped train station at Pukekohe.”

KiwiRail says it “thanks our freight customers for their understanding and cooperation with the use of roads to move their goods during the two-week rail closure”.

KiwiRail and AT say the opening of the CRL next year will mean more trains on the network, doubling the number of Aucklanders who live within a 30-minute train journey to the central city and significantly cutting journey times.

“Ahead of this, an upgrade of priority areas, the construction and fit-out of new stations, and the integration, testing and commissioning of new systems are required,” KiwiRail says.

“This has meant closing the entire rail network at its quietest times of usage – over public, school and university holidays.

“More closures will occur this year over long weekends, school holidays and the 2025-26 summer to progress more upgrade and renewals works, as well as three new train stations on the Southern Line.

“KiwiRail colleagues in the Link Alliance used the April closure to focus on completing works in the CRL tunnels and the connections to the rest of the railway.

“Trains are now running down the CRL tunnels as part of a rigorous testing programme – covering everything from the infrastructure and rail systems interfaces, emergency procedures and scenarios, the stations and urban realm, and some simulated stress testing.”

KiwiRail says a train has been trialling at full speed in the new 3.45km CRL tunnel, with the “line speed” 70kp/h.

Excavating rail foundations near Te Mahia station at Manurewa on the Southern Line.

AT’s public transport and active modes director Stacey van der Putten says: “We’re really pleased with the amount of work achieved over the April rail closure, and seeing everything is on track for CRL’s opening in 2026.

“We know every time the rail network closes it causes serious disruption for our customers, but with each day the network is closed we get a step closer to having the modern, fast, frequent and reliable rail network Aucklanders deserve.

“Following this closure we’re also able to increase the frequency of trains to Pukekohe from today, with trains running to the city centre every 10 minutes during peak times.

“I know it’s inconvenient for people not to be able to catch the train, but AT and our partners at KiwiRail have a short time frame to deliver the necessary work to be ready in time for CRL opening,” says van der Putten.

“During the rail closure, we saw high uptake of our rail replacement buses and we’re continuing to listen to customer feedback and make improvements where possible.

“The bus stop changes in west Auckland saw better rail bus reliability and we’re currently investigating rail bus priority opportunities for future planned rail closures.

“These upgrades provide better experiences on our public transport network. Since Pukekohe Station reopened in February, we’re close to reaching the same amount of people using this station as in 2019, even as people continue to work from home more often.

“We’re very pleased to see the high uptake.”

KiwiRail, AT: Other highlights of the April rail works include:

Completion of the construction of the Wiri to Quay Park (W2QP) Third Main Line, now ready for its operational readiness phase.
Completion of Quay Park signals commissioning, successfully concluding all W2QP signalling works.
Progressing the final stages of Rail Network Rebuild (RNR) focused on priority areas of the Southern Line, between Wiri and Papakura.
The final stages of the Middlemore Station redevelopment.
Ongoing work on the Western Power Feed in Glen Eden, which will add greater electricity capacity to the network in Auckland, boosting its resilience and allowing for future growth.
Progressing construction of new train stations at Drury Central, Paerātā and Ngakoroa in south Auckland.
Commissioning signalling at Quay Park.
Building a third platform and additional tracks at Henderson Station, as well as continuing the upgrade of the lifts as part of AT’s station improvements.
Undertaking weather proofing maintenance at Newmarket Station.
Soundproofing works at Waitematā (Britomart) Station.
Maintenance work across Auckland, including replacing rails, turnouts, sleepers and ballast.
More information about the range of rail improvement work in Auckland is at: https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/our-network/our-regions/amp/
For earlier Times’ stories on Auckland rail network upgrades: