Is the CRL Future Proofed for The North Shore Line?

 

Last week Auckland Transport released the long-awaited Notice of Requirement for the City Rail Link (CRL) and opened the public submission period for “public” feedback:

From Auckland Transport:

City Rail Link open for public comment

Last reviewed: 25/01/2013 10:13 a.m.

Click the Auckland Council link (in blue) above to head to the page where the documents for the Notices of Requirement are located (heads up there is a lot of documents but no single overarching full version)

 

I am still going through the finer details of the all the documents but one thing has struck me – well two actually:

1. No mention of The North Shore Line (which crosses the City Rail Link at Aotea Station)
2. No apparent future proofing of Aotea Station for The North Shore Line when it gets built (that is when not if folks)

Now is that a biggie? Oh yes it is as the decision whether to “future-proof” for the North Shore Line will have impacts for decades to come both positive and negative.

 

What is The North Shore Line?

The North Shore Line presumably is a dual tracked heavy rail line (so it is the same as our existing rail lines thus it can run the incoming EMU’s (the Electrics) that spawns from the City Rail Link at Aotea Station and proceeds to the North Shore (as a tunnel) via Wynyard Quarter, surfacing again after Akoranga Station, then running (and replacing) along the existing Northern Busway and Northern Express bus routes (where the busway does not run) right through to either Albany or Silverdale. This map shows a rough approximation on where The North Shore Line would run

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click for full resolution

 

The North Shore Line basically connects the North Shore to the rest of the isthmus’s rail system and would (once all lines are complete) allow North Shore residents to take the train to either (listing a few):

• The CBD
• Newmarket
• Eden Park (Kingsland Station)
• New Lynn
• Henderson
• Penrose
• Onehunga
• Glen Innes
• Sylvia Park
• Botany Town Centre
• Manukau City Centre
• Airport
• Onehunga
• Papakura
• Pukekohe

And of course vice versa for those wishing to head to the North Shore from the main isthmus.

I have listed potential North Shore Line Stations that could be built on this line – they are:

• Wynyard Quarter
• Akoranga Station and Interchange
• Northcote
• Tristram Station
• Constellation Station
• Albany
• Silverdale (optional)

 

With properly built stations complete with:

• Park and Ride
• Kiss and Ride
• Cycle Lockers
• Bus Interchange
• Taxi Stand

The North Shore Line would (at full operational capacity) be able to move 900% more passengers than buses ever could using the busway at full capacity. Furthermore with the heavy rail line fully grade separated from the roads, there would be no interference from road traffic for the trains, allowing fast and efficient travel to one’s destination station.

 

The cost of the North Shore Line to be built was around the $2.5b to get it to Albany as was covered in my “NORTH SHORE RAIL FOR $2.5B?” post last year.

As I mentioned earlier there seems to be no apparent mention of both the North Shore Line itself and having Aotea Station future proofed for when the line gets built in due time. I stress the word apparent as if someone can point out to me in the CRL NoR documents clear and concise it would be extremely appreciated – with the respective post modified to reflect that.

 

However we are for the moment taking it on the assumption that Auckland Transport has apparently not provided the proviso for mentioning and future proofing the North Shore Line into the CRL project. If that is the case we might end up with the following situation when it comes building the eventual North Shore Line:

• Retrofitting the CRL rail tunnels within the vicinity of Aotea Station (most likely seismic) strengthening the tunnels for the construction and later operational vibrations in regards to the North Shore Line tunnel
• Retrofitting Aotea Station to allow the station to be bi-level in a cross formation ( + ) with the North Shore Line most likely running underneath the main CRL line

These retrofitting exercises would be most likely hideously expensive and have vast impacts in the operational nature of the existing main CRL with the North Shore under construction in that area – especially at Aotea Station where heavy underground construction would occur as it is where the two lines meet.

 

So in that regard the ball falls back into AT’s lap in making sure that the absolute full picture of where we want our rail network to be around 2040 is taken into account as the planning process chugs along for the City Rail Link. While the Notice of Requirements are out an open for submission; in the name of future proofing the CRL for the North Shore Line I thus wonder if the land designation around Aotea Station should be broadened to indicate and allow the “protection” required for when the intersecting North Shore Line is built.

While I was typing this post it was brought to my attention via Twitter that there are drawings indicating Aotea Station fully future proofed for the eventual North Shore Line, and that the current NoR land designation would not be affected too much in regards to that line. As of this moment those drawings for Aotea are not public so I can’t gauge fully on the situation as yet – thus this post stands for now and subsequent to updates as more happens.

 

The CRL is Good, future proofing for the North Shore Line betters the CRL to its ultimate aim: Connecting Auckland by rail!