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Rail work is on track - Southern Line to reopen on Monday Rail work is on track - Southern Line to reopen on Monday

Date: 16 March 2023

Work to prepare Auckland for more frequent commuter trains is now in its second stage – which will see stations on the Eastern Line closed between Ōtāhuhu and Britomart.

While for southern passengers, KiwiRail completes the Rail Network Rebuild Stage 1 on the Southern and Onehunga lines on Sunday, so services will be returning to the Southern Line and Onehunga Line on Monday 20 March 2023.

That day, work on Stage 2 will begin. It will see the Sylvia Park, Panmure, Glen Innes, Meadowbank and Ōrākei stations on the Eastern line closed from 20 March 2023 until early January 2024. The Eastern Line/Stage 2 is twice the physical length of Stage 1.

Auckland Transport (AT) will operate a range of alternative transport options to help get Aucklanders in that part of the city to where they need to go. 

The $330 million Rail Network Rebuild is taking a staged approach, to minimise the impact on train customers as much as possible.

Darek Koper says AT really appreciates how challenging the current situation is.

“We know this is a really challenging time for lots of our customers, as KiwiRail works on the tracks while we also have a bus driver shortage, but we know this work is going to make a massive difference for how we get around our city in the future.

“We are pleased that the rebuild is on track, despite major slips during the recent weather events. Those who have been using the rail replacement bus services can travel on their train again – as services resume fully on the Southern and Onehunga lines on Monday.

“We would like to also remind customers that the line ends at Papakura, as trains don’t currently operate between Papakura to Pukekohe due to KiwiRail’s work to electrify this part of the line.

“We really appreciate our southern and Onehunga customers; we thank them for how patient they have been and look forward to seeing them back on Monday.”

Changes to the Onehunga Line:

All Onehunga Line stations will reopen. Due to the Eastern Line closure requiring more trains to run through Newmarket, and fewer platforms at Britomart due to CRL works, services are limited on the Onehunga Line during peak hours.

However, additional platform space is now available at Britomart during off-peak hours. This means that trains can run to Britomart during Stage 2 of the Rail Network Rebuild.

Trains will run from:

      • Between Onehunga and Penrose at peak times.
      • Between Onehunga and Britomart at off-peak times, including weekends. During the day, trains will not stop at Remuera and Greenlane.
      • During the evenings, Onehunga Line trains will travel between Onehunga and Britomart and will stop at all stations including Remuera and Greenlane.
      • Peak times are 5:30am to 9:30am and 3pm to 7:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Britomart platform changes:

  • Some platform changes will be happening on Monday as part of the CRL project. Platform One has been closed and on Monday it will reopen.
  • Platform Five will close
  • Western Line trains will move to Platform Four
  • Southern Line trains will move to Platform One
  • Eastern Line continues on Platform Three
  • Onehunga Line on weekdays will operate from Platform Two, and on evenings and weekends it will operate from Platform Three.

Rail Replacement Bus timetables will be available to download from the AT website: www.AT.govt.nz/RailRebuild

Use the AT Journey Planner: www.AT.govt.nz/JourneyPlanner and AT Mobile app to plan your journey.