Should Kingdon Come? Or Thou Shall be Gone
Posted by Jon C in StationsSep 25th, 2009 | 9 responses
Discussions are taking place whether there’s an argument to retain Newmarket’s Kingdon St Western line temporary stop in the scheme of things, once Newmarket’s Grand Station opens mid-January.
Kingdon St has been used as a temporary station while the Newmarket station and rail work has been taking place, while southern line services have used a stop nearer the new station off Remuera Rd.
But some commuters are now complaining they have got used to the convenience of being able to have a stop near where they work or shop at the Newmarket end where there is a swimming pool, movie complex and the Warehouse among popular destinations.
This includes people who want to go to that part of Newmarket from Britomart as well as those who do travel regularly on the Western line.
Of course for other Western line users who want to be nearer the 277 shopping complex area or newish Nuffield St fashion shop and eatery areas, it’s a bit of a hike from the temporary station to there.
Veolia is understood to be discussing whether the Kingdon St stop should be retained and that, say, every second western line service “go down the hill” rather than stop at the new station.
This would provide two Newmarket stops in between Britomart and the pending, shifted Boston Rd (renamed Grafton) stop.
But it will apparently take considerable public pressure to try to convince the regional council of such a change .
I love the idea. The main problem will be that you may catch the wrong train and not end up at the Newmarket stop you want but street-wise bus users are very familiar with watching to make sure they don’t catch an express bus or one which goes a slightly different route.
The only other issue is that Newmarket station will have commercial businesses operating within the station and being a major transport hub, those businesses may do well and certainly better than some of the ones at Britomart. The word is Veolia would like to run that station, unlike the council authorities which run Britomart at the moment as part of the unnecessarily complicated fragmented transport system we have.
The temporary station unfortunately feels temporary with its rough walkways and there are sad memories of the old man who fell off into the path of a train at that stop earlier in July.
What do you think? If people yell enough, it will happen.
9 Responses to “Should Kingdon Come? Or Thou Shall be Gone”
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Ideally, no, I don’t think the Kingdon St stop should be kept.
Instead, we should have a northern exit from the redeveloped Newmarket (Newnewmarket?) station ready for day one of its opening, not as part of some years-away development on top of the junction. That would have served the eastern side of the Kingdon St station catchment, with the relocated Grafton (ex Boston Rd) station taking care of its western catchment.
Would a northern exit, even if it’s made of scaffolding like the current Newmarket South setup, be an acceptable solution for the new Newmarket station to link it with the Broadway overbridge, at least until the proposed development there gets started?
It’s a no from me too actually. You would only use it for trains on the western line that bypassed the main station. And I cant see much point in spending $70 million on a flash new station only to bypass it with every 3rd train.
No, again. But spending money creating a clear link between that part of Newmarket and the station should be done sooner rather than later.
No too. But as a side issue I think the setup of the Kingdon Stn should be kept. It has provided a new found throughfare for pedestrians in an increasingly dynamic part of Newmarket.
With the advent of intergrated ticketing and the new Cenral Connector (opening very soon), it may prove very easy to just catch a frequent bus service from Newmarket Stn up Khyber pass and get off around the Kingdon St area for those who wish to.
Sorry Jon its a no from me as well
If the streets are designed better for walking, the trip between Kingdom and Newmarket Station wont be so bad. It will also encourage a disjointed approach to the railway system in Newmarket and create confusion.
Another ‘no’, I’m afraid. It’s great that a temporary station was installed at Kingdon Street during the redevelopment of Newmarket (something that would never have happened under the old TranzMetro regime) it is just that: a temporary measure. Among other reasons informing my opinion is a concern that the new traffic authority might be tempted to a decision that the level of service provided by temporary stops is sufficient for Aucklanders rather than investing in proper stations like Newmarket.
I’m a bit concerned at the idea of dismissing this idea out of hand – for PT design/ideological reasons which may or may not have basis in practical benefits.
As the OP mentioned there are a lot of traffic sources handy to the kingdon st platforms which aren’t close to newmarket station.
Though it has technically been labelled a temporary station, the build of the station is much less “temporary” than the newmarket south one. Plus there are plenty of other stations on the network that are a lot worse and not scheduled for upgrades any time soon!
It would add complexity though, and perhaps thats reason enough not to do it. I’m not sure either way.
NO from me to I’m afraid. Maybe providing a temporary link from the New Station to the over bridge may work. However they should keep the street closed and provide a pedestrian crossing/link.
Yes please.
I go to the swiming pool and instead of the dreary Link bus getting a train has been awesome.