Parnell railway station

Parnell railway station is a station serving the inner-city suburb of Parnell in Auckland, New Zealand. It is situated on the Newmarket Line, approximately 600m north of Parnell Tunnel, and is located in the Waipapa Valley adjacent to Auckland Domain. It serves Southern Line and Western Line trains. Onehunga Line trains currently pass through the station without stopping.[3]

Parnell
Auckland Transport Urban rail
Parnell railway station from the citybound platform. The heritage Newmarket station building is on the southbound platform and is undergoing refurbishment.
LocationCheshire Street, Parnell, Auckland
Coordinates36.855336°S 174.777760°E / -36.855336; 174.777760
Owned byKiwiRail (track and platforms)
Auckland Transport (buildings)
Line(s)Newmarket Line
Platforms2 Side platforms
TracksMainline (2)
Construction
Platform levels1
Other information
Fare zoneCity
History
Opened12 March 2017 (12 March 2017)
Electrified25 kV AC[1]
Passengers
2,900/week (2017)[2]
Services
Preceding station   Auckland Transport (Transdev)   Following station
Terminus
Southern Line
toward Papakura
Western Line
toward Swanson

The station opened on 12 March 2017 with relatively basic facilities and initially serving a limited number of lines.[4] Future development will involve building a pedestrian bridge across the tracks to provide step-free access to the platforms, and constructing several new paths to provide more direct access to Auckland Domain, Parnell Town Centre and the University of Auckland.

It was originally intended that the station would eventually serve all three lines which pass through it. This was contingent on the removal of the Sarawia Street level crossing in Newmarket, removing the signalling constraints which affected the line.[5] A bridge built to replace the level crossing, linking Laxon Terrace with nearby Cowie Street,[6] allowed the removal of the crossing.

History
The Parnell railway station under construction. View from the Auckland Domain entrance to the station (looking north towards the platforms). An AM class train is passing through the station and one building from the former Mainline Steam depot is visible in the background.
Parnell Station under construction, with platforms and some fences complete, but no facilities or shelters.

After a plan to lease part of the area as a bus depot was cancelled,[7] KiwiRail and Auckland Council were asked in 2010 by the outgoing Auckland Regional Council to make an early start on construction of the proposed station, which was to cost $13 million or more, to ensure that there would not need to be costly extra work after the electrification of the line as part of the Auckland railway electrification.[8] It was proposed that several million dollars saved during the upgrade of the Newmarket station be allocated to this new station.[7]

The former Mainline Steam depot.

An early proposal was to integrate the new station with some of the historic railway workshop sheds of the adjacent Mainline Steam depot[9] but nothing eventuated. The Mainline Steam Heritage Trust had its lease on the depot terminated by KiwiRail and completed its move from the site in June 2015.[10] The sheds were demolished in September 2015.

The heritage station building from the Newmarket station (a historic building designed by George Troup[11] and built in 1908 that was removed during a 2008–10 upgrade) was relocated onto the Parnell station platform in 2016-17.[12] As of early 2019, the station building is used to house artist studios and a gallery.[13]

In late 2015, Auckland Transport advised that opening the Parnell station to passenger services was being postponed until the completion of a road bridge at Cowie Street, replacing the nearby level crossing on Sarawia Street.[5][14] AT received approval from independent planning commissioners in June 2016. The following November, the commissioners' recommendation for the bridge was appealed. If AT had been unable to address the concerns expressed in the appeal, an Environment Court hearing (most likely in early 2017) would have decided whether the appeal would be upheld.[15]

Trains began operating at the station on 12 March 2017,[16] with an official opening by Mayor of Auckland, Phil Goff, and Waitematā Local Board chair Pippa Coom on 13 March 2017.[17]

In July–August 2018, the Cowie Street bridge to Laxon Terrace was completed and opened and the Sarawia Street level crossing was closed to road traffic. As a result, a new timetable introduced on 26 August 2018 allowed Parnell to become a stop on all Southern Line and Western Line services.

Station layout

The station is located next to the Auckland Domain, where the Auckland War Memorial Museum is situated.[18] The two side platforms are linked by a subway.[19]

Future work will provide walking links to the Domain and the campuses of the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology.[20] In mid-November 2018, a walkway was established connecting the Parnell Station to the University of Auckland's Carlaw Park Student Village and the Carlaw business centre, which is near the University of Auckland's City Campus on Symond Street.[21]

See also

References
  1. "Auckland Electrifcation Map" (PDF). KiwiRail. 18 May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  2. "An extra million on the trains in just three months" (Press release). Auckland Transport. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  3. "New train timetables from Sunday 12 March". Auckland Transport. 24 February 2017. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  4. "Auckland Transport – Parnell Station". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. "Auckland Transport – Preparation work underway for Parnell Station". Auckland Transport. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  6. "Auckland Transport – Newmarket level crossing". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  7. Dearnaley, Mathew (2 November 2010). "KiwiRail abandons bus park idea". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  8. "ARC presses for Parnell train station". The New Zealand Herald. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  9. "Nicholas Stevens: First the dream, then the bombshell". The New Zealand Herald. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  10. "Mainline Steam Heritage Trust, New Zealand – News". Mainline Steam. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  11. "Onehunga unlikely home for old station". Stuff.co.nz. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  12. "Auckland Transport – Parnell Station". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  13. "Te TuhiStudios at Cheshire Street". Te Thui. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  14. "A long time coming – the story of the Parnell Station". Mike Lee. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  15. "Auckland Transport – Newmarket level crossing project updates". Auckland Transport. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  16. "Low passenger numbers force Westfield Station's closure". Manukau Courier. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  17. Fitzgerald, Mary (14 March 2017). "Businesses and residents delighted with Parnell train station opening". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  18. "Parnell train station opens". Radio New Zealand. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  19. Orsman, Bernard (10 March 2017). "Parnell rail station opens with heritage building sporting original colours". The Aucklander. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  20. "A new transport link for Parnell" (Press release). Auckland Transport. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  21. "New pathway connection to Parnell Station now open". Our Auckland. Auckland Council. Retrieved 10 March 2019.

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