North Auckland Line

North Auckland Line
Whangārei railway yard in 2012
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	KiwiRail (Westfield Junction to Otiria Junction) Bay of Islands Vintage Railway (Kawakawa to Taumarere)
Locale	Northland, New Zealand
Termini	Westfield Junction Otiria Junction
Service
Type	Commuter rail, rail freight
System	KiwiRail
Operator(s)	Auckland One Rail (Westfield Junction to Swanson) KiwiRail (Westfield Junction to Otiria Junction) Bay of Islands Vintage Railway (Kawakawa to Taumarere)
History
Opened	1868-03-02 (Kawakawa to Taumarere) 1884-04-07 (Taumarere to Opua) 1880-03-29 (Newmarket to Glen Eden) 1880-12-21 (Glen Eden to Henderson) 1881-07-13 (Henderson to Helensville) 1925-11-29 (line completed)
Technical
Line length	284.13 km
Number of tracks	Double track (Westfield to Swanson) Single track (Swanson to Otiria Junction)
Character	Urban, rural
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Electrification	25 kV AC (Westfield to Swanson)
Route map Legend km length in m 298.96 Opua Opua line 281.30 Otiria Okaihau Branch 277.02 Pokapu 270.24 Opahi Kauri Timber Co. tramway (c.1915–22) 266.87 Motatau 261.84 Taikirau 258.60 Maromaku 253.87 Towai 250.83 Akerama 246.83 Hūkerenui 243.95 Waiotu 239.10 Whakapara 237.77 Otonga Northern Coal Co. tramway 233.56 Waro 231.83 Hikurangi 226.42 Kauri Fonterra Kauri dairy factory 221.14 Kamo 216.52 Mair 214.63 Town Hall (railcar stop) 213.51 Whangārei Onerahi Branch 203.77 Portland 199.80 Oakleigh Marsden Point Branch to Northport 195.07 Mangapai 188.22 Tauraroa Dargaville Branch 179.51 Waiotira Waikiekie Tunnel 240 173.87 Waikiekie Mareretu Tunnel 334 168.49 Taipuha Mangawai River bridge 70 163.68 Mareretu Golden Stairs Tunnel 604 156.81 Paparoa Huarau Tunnel 343 154.37 Huarau 150.55 Maungaturoto Bickerstaffe Tunnel 481 148.55 Bickerstaffe Otamatea River 313 143.61 Ranganui 139.66 Kaiwaka Ross Hill Tunnel 342 131.91 Topuni Topuni River 120 Topuni Tunnel 153 125.39 Te Hana 120.13 Wellsford Hoteo River bridges 50 90 50   Hoteo Tunnel 503 105.06 Kaipara Flats 100.15 Woodcocks Ahuroa Tunnel 389 Araparera River 70 96.13 Ahuroa Tāhekeroa Tunnel 447 88.39 Tāhekeroa 83.24 Makarau Makarau Tunnel 573 78.46 Kanohi 75.02 Kaukapakapa 72.16 Punganui 69.22 Mount Rex 66.36 Helensville 65.66 Helensville South 63.68 Ohirangi 61.28 Wharepapa 57.92 Woodhill 55.35 Rewiti 51.19 Waimauku 47.07 Huapai 44.88 Kumeū Riverhead Branch 39.81 Taupaki 36.62 Waitakere Kauri Timber Company tramway (1919–1925) Waitakere Tunnel 274 Waitakere Tramline 32.69 Swanson limit of suburban services 30.40 Ranui 28.55 Sturges Road 27.08 Henderson 25.46 Sunnyvale 23.15 Glen Eden 21.35 Fruitvale Road 20.24 New Lynn 17.52 Avondale 15.81 Mount Albert 14.78 Baldwin Avenue 13.45 Morningside 12.48 Kingsland 11.13 Maungawhau 10.00 Grafton Newmarket Line to Waitematā 8.53 Newmarket 7.46 Remuera 5.99 Greenlane 4.62 Ellerslie Onehunga Branch 3.17 Penrose to Onehunga via Te Papapa Southdown Freight Centre 0.00 Westfield Junction North Island Main Trunk to Wellington │ to Waitematā km length in m This diagram: view talk edit

Map

The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newmarket Station; from there, westward to Waitakere; from there, northward to Otiria via Whangārei. The first section was opened in 1868 and the line was completed in 1925. The line, or sections of it, have been known at various times as the Kaipara Line, the Waikato-Kaipara Line, the Kaipara Branch and the North Auckland Main Trunk.^[1]

North Auckland Line is a designation for the section of track, not a service route. The southernmost portion from Westfield Junction to Newmarket was originally built as part of the North Island Main Trunk railway, with Newmarket serving as the junction of the two lines. The North Island Main Trunk was re-routed in 1930 via the Westfield Deviation through Glen Innes and Panmure. Westfield-Newmarket was then incorporated into the North Auckland Line,^[2] and Newmarket-Auckland became the Newmarket Line, which today connects the North Auckland Line to Waitematā railway station.

Three passenger lines of Auckland's suburban rail network make use of the North Auckland Line. Southern Line services travel on it between Westfield Junction and Newmarket Station. Onehunga Line services travel on it between Penrose Station and Newmarket Station. Western Line services travel on it between Swanson Station and Newmarket Station.

The North Auckland Line previously continued to Opua in the Bay of Islands, with the section from Otiria to Opua sometimes known as the Opua Branch.^[3] It is now owned by the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway but regular operations were suspended in 2001, with resumption on a short section of the line in 2008.

The North Auckland Line was under review as part of KiwiRail's turnaround plan. In 2020, the government announced $109.7 million for upgrades to the line, focussing on rebuilding and lowering the floors of 13 tunnels^[4] along the line to enable hi-cube containers.^[5] A container terminal is to be built at Otiria.^[6] A new branch line, the Marsden Point Branch, will serve Northport, a deepwater port at Marsden Point, by diverging from the North Auckland Line south of Whangarei at Oakleigh.^[4]

In 2023 the NAL was expected to be out of action to at least June after floods in January; (see 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods), and it was announced that KiwiRail was "progressing" the business case for the new Marsden Branch.^[7]