Newmarket Train Station

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Newmarket Train Station MAXX Urban rail
MAXX DC class 4369 hauling a SA/SD carriage train at Newmarket, November 2006.
Station statistics
Address	Remuera Road, Newmarket, Auckland City
Lines	Western Line Southern Line
Levels	1
Platforms	1
Tracks	2
Parking	No
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Baggage check	No
Other information
Opened	1873
Closed	January 2008
Rebuilt	January 2008
Electrified	No
Owned by	ONTRACK and ARTA
Services
ONTRACK     Preceding station   MAXX (Veolia)   Following station Britomart (Auckland) Terminus Southern Line Remuera toward Pukekohe Western Line Boston Road toward Waitakere

Newmarket Train Station is on the Southern and Western Lines of the Auckland railway network. It has an island platform, reached by a ramp from Remuera Road (opposite Nuffield Street) and from the end of Joseph Banks Terrace by a pedestrian overbridge. The pedestrian overbridge from Broadway has recently been closed due to construction works.

Contents 1 History 2 Layout 2.1 Overview 2.2 Backshunt 3 Services 4 Station redevelopment 4.1 Future Layout 4.2 Pedestrian access 4.3 Historic building 5 References

[edit] History

The railway station building was one of four island platform stations in Auckland designed and built by George Troup, Chief Engineer for the New Zealand Railways Department. The station was built in 1908, at the time of the installation of double track. The signal box further along the platform was built at the same time and is one of the few of that era in New Zealand on its original site and still in operation.

[edit] Layout

[edit] Overview

This station is near Newmarket Junction, the junction of the Western and Southern Lines. Prior to the station's redevelopment, trains coming from Britomart had to run past the junction to call at this station.

The old station only had two platforms. For many years all city-bound trains stopped at one platform, with outwards trains stopping at the other platform. This was confusing as the outward-bound platform served all trains on both the Southern and Western Lines. This problem was solved by 'splitting' the platform into two: Southern Line trains stopped at the southern end of the platform, and Western Line ones at the northern end. However the platform was short, so that this did not always resolve the confusion.

The above practice has become less prevalent following the higher frequency of the July 2007 timetable. From then on the signal person typically directed trains to whichever platform was free at the time of arrival. That meant any trains could arrive at any platform without any indication of destination. Off-peak, the singalperson usually follow the traditional practice, but during the peak this was not practical. This led to problems of passenger confusion as to which train runs on which line.

During peak times Veolia staff are often present with megaphones to inform passengers of trains destinations. The signal box was attended 24 hours per day and has control of all trains within the station and Junction.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Backshunt

For many years Western Line trains had to reverse into a special siding, which then allowed them to enter the Western Line (to Waitakere) or the Southern Line (to Newmarket). In July 2007 the "backshunt" procedure ceased to be necessary, with the start of the station's rebuilding as part of Project DART.

[edit] Services

The station is the second-busiest train station in Auckland, after Britomart.^[1] All express services stop here, including the Pukekohe and Waitakere expresses.

[edit] Station redevelopment

Newmarket station is to be redeveloped as part of ONTRACKs Project DART. The majority of proposed works centre around improving connections between the station and the surrounding commercial and residential areas and bringing the station's appearance and facilities up to modern standards. The old station was some distance downstream from the junction of the western and southern lines despite serving both, necessitating western line trains travelling in either direction to perform a reversal manoeuvre. The station building was also rather dilapidated and of insufficient size to serve the growing Newmarket demands.

[edit] Future Layout

Integral to the redevelopment is the requirement to reorganise the trackwork servicing the station. The new station features twin island platforms with four tracks.^[2] The outer faces of each platform would serve westbound and southbound trains respectively. The centre track, accessible from the inner faces of both platforms would service citybound trains from both the west and the south. The station will cost an estimated NZ$ 25 million to redevelop (paid for by ARTA), while Ontrack will spend around NZ$ 45 million to change the layout configuration. The project has been called the most challenging in the whole upgrade of Auckland's railway network.^[2]

[edit] Pedestrian access

The new station will have numerous access points to the concourse to be built above the platforms - along a rebuilt access bridge from Remuera Road (southern side) as well as via an access bridge from Joseph Banks Terrace from the Remuera (eastern) side. Future accesses will also be via a plaza between the new buildings currently (2007) being erected on former railway land between Broadway and Remuera Road (western side) as well as via a possible future access from the Broadway (northwest) side over an extended concourse to the north of the station linking up with the main street over the existing tunnel south of the Olympic Pools area.^[2]

[edit] Historic building

The fate of the historically and architecturally significant old station building was controversial, with various proposals having been put forward to demolish, refurbish, or relocate the building. Following the announcement of the budget for the station's upgrade on the 14 March 2007, ^[3], Minister of Finance Michael Cullen announced that $5 million would be put towards moving the station building, possibly to a new site in Parnell^[2] where it could serve as a station for the Auckland War Memorial Museum in the Auckland Domain. The station building and signal box was removed from the site on 3 March 2008. The storage location of the building was not disclosed, as ONTRACK fears the historic buildings might be vandalised.^[4]

[edit] References

v • d • e Railway stations on the Southern Line, Auckland (full list) Britomart • Newmarket • Remuera • Greenlane • Ellerslie • Penrose • Westfield • Otahuhu • Mangere • Middlemore • Papatoetoe • Puhinui • Homai • Manurewa • Te Mahia • Takanini • Papakura • Pukekohe

v • d • e Railway stations on the Western Line, Auckland (full list) Britomart • Newmarket • Boston Road • Mt Eden • Kingsland • Morningside • Baldwin Ave • Mt Albert • Avondale • New Lynn • Fruitvale Road • Glen Eden • Sunnyvale • Henderson • Sturges Road • Ranui • Swanson • Waitakere

Coordinates: 36°52.2′S, 174°46.7′E