9 September 2004

Western Rail Line New Track Laying Begins

The first stretch of new rail-track for the Western Rail Line will be laid next week, as part of the ongoing double tracking project.

The Auckland Regional Council is managing the construction project on behalf of the Crown, to double track the rail line between Mt Eden and Morningside.

This will improve train service reliability and capacity, by allowing trains to travel in both directions at the same time.

The Chair of the Passenger Transport Committee, Councillor Catherine Harland, says the first stretch of new track will be put in place near Mt Eden Station, and will be laid in stages along the line to Morningside.

“While construction is underway services will be impacted, but when complete, the double tracking will have a long-awaited, positive impact on the reliability of Western Line services. Intensive work over this coming four-week period will shorten overall construction time by several months. We are making good progress toward completion of this first stage in early 2005 and I am very pleased to see this 'new track' milestone being reached”, she says.

Weekday passenger rail services along the Line will be disrupted for four weeks between September 18 and October 17 to allow construction to take place.

Cr Harland says this means that in addition to current Saturday service disruptions, some regular weekday train services will be replaced by buses.

“We want people to continue travelling by rail whenever it is safe and practical to do so over this time, so we have kept many crucial services, including the trains that carry children to and from school. Weekday morning and evening peak services will also still run as normal”.

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As part of the double tracking project, work is also underway to build a new station at Kingsland and a new pedestrian bridge at Mt Eden station.

Saturday rail services will continue to be disrupted periodically until project completion, to allow construction work to take place while there is less demand on services.

ENDS

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