• Howick and Pakuranga Times
WORK on the $90 million Manukau city centre rail link and station is underway.
The station and rail link is a project between KiwiRail, Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) and Manukau City Council.
The 2km branch line is the first new rail route to be built in Auckland since the eastern line in 1930.
Manukau Station will be part of a tertiary education building, stage one of a planned 3ha campus being developed by Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mayor Len Brown says the council has been pushing for the rail link for at least a decade, and for a tertiary campus in the area for almost as long.
“We’ve got both happening at the same time, part of a project that will see each helping the other to succeed. Manukau Station will be a busy place, with about as many passengers going through it as Newmarket. Only Britomart will be busier.
“Large numbers of passengers and students will be coming to this part of the city centre – and people means opportunities for commercial development and new businesses to establish.
“The campus and train station development will be a catalyst for further investment in this area. It unlocks the economic potential of the city centre and the educational potential of our young people.
“It will be easy to change between bus and train at Manukau Station. It will become the hub for the majority of bus services in the south of Auckland.
“We want Manukau city centre and the region to be places that are easy to get to and get around. This development will play a big part in achieving that,” says Mr Brown.
The council has provided $25m funding, Kiwirail $50m for the rail track, signals and trench where trains will arrive and ARTA $15.2m for passenger facilities.
The 2km Manukau line will link the city centre with the Southern Line at Puhinui. The station is due to open in late 2010/early 2011. Stage one of the campus being developed by MIT will open to its first students at the start of 2012.
About 600,000 passenger journeys are estimated to pass through the train station each year, while 1.2 million people are expected to use the bus station annually.
Trains could initially run every 20 or 30 minutes at peak as demand grows. When the Auckland rail network electrification is complete, peak service will be every 10 minutes.
The Manukau station will be the main hub for most of the bus services in the south of the Auckland region.
