KiwiRail is taking advantage of the holiday lull to carry out maintenance work on the Auckland commuter network.
The work, on the Southern and Western lines, will take place between December 26 and January 5, and means some commuter services will be replaced with buses.
The Western line will be closed to allow for works to replace sleepers, track and turnouts - which allow trains to change tracks - at several locations, and for City Rail Link interim, and early works for the New Lynn to Avondale cycleway.
The Southern line and Eastern line will be closed south of Westfield for Otahuhu third platform work and the Puhinui interchange, track work and sleeper replacement between Papakura and Pukekohe.
This includes at four level crossings along the Western line and one on the Southern line.
“This type of work cannot be carried out while trains are running,” says KiwiRail Executive General Manager Operations Siva Sivapakkiam.
“Working at level crossings also causes disruption to road networks, so it makes sense to take advantage of the holidays when both rail and road networks are quieter. This way we can carry out a lot of work with minimal disruption to commuters and road users.
“Auckland is a busy network, with nearly 200,000 commuter services a year, and 246 freight services a week. That means a lot of wear and tear on the network.
“The maintenance we do now will help reduce delays and increase reliability in the future.”
KiwiRail will have nearly 170 staff and contractors working through the holiday break.
Details of Auckland Transport timetable changes are available at https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/service-announcements/future-works-on-the-auckland-rail-network/
Further details of the work are available at:
https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/how-can-we-help/xmas-works/