Welcome, Grafton: Our New Train Stop (Photos)
Posted by Jon C in StationsNov 18th, 2009 | 10 responses
The Grafton train station – which will replace the present nearby Boston Rd station – is starting to take shape.
It’s being built in Park Rd near the Park Rd bridge at the intersection of Khyber Pass Rd, Newmarket..
It means Auckland loses its odd world status as a country that has a train stop right outside a prison gate!
The second track will be laid beneath the Khyber Pass and Park Rds during the Christmas and NewYear period, by which time construction on this Grafton station will be in full swing with its opening around March.
The decision to call it Grafton was not without controversy. The Newmarket Business Association didn’t agree – but the Grafton Residents’ Association, Hobson Community Board and the City Council’s transport committee pushed for the name Grafton and this was agreed to by the Geographic Board, which also made the Wanganui decision around the same time.
The Newmarket group wanted the name Khyber Pass as did Mt Eden prison’s corrections department. Ontrack sat on the fence (or maybe the track).
Boston Rd is a popular stop for school students from St Peter’s College and also a few students from Auckland Grammar. The Grafton residents group claimed most passengers would be heading for either Auckland Hospital in the tiny inner-city Grafton suburb or Auckland Domain.
10 Responses to “Welcome, Grafton: Our New Train Stop (Photos)”
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I think “Newmarket West” would have been a good name for it
Oh and on the side, IMHO the graffiti does not deserve recognition. That particular tag to the right of the second photo is really getting annoying with how much it’s turning up on the rail corridor. I do hope that guy gets caught, and soon.
Maybe pixelate or blur it out of the photos?
I agree that it would be better named Khyber Pass Station.
Why do you think him getting caught will stop him Andrew..?
Not exactly a jailable offence…
Is great all the new and upgraded stations being built, lets hope public pressure builds and we can squeeze out some funds from the roading budget for more…
That same tag is popping up around the rail development. I don’t photoshop images because we need to see how it really looks but it’s a shame its hard to avoid that very prominent tag.
We need upgrades, not -new- stations. We will never acheive 10 minute frequencies, even with EMUs, if the trains are stopping every 2-3 minutes to (un)load passengers. The only other way to avoid this with such a number of stations on the lines is track amplification, and I highly doubt anyone’s going to pay for that in the next 40 years. There needs to be some station closures in the next few years. Te Mahia and Puhinui are two such stations that have low patronage and are still in the catchments for other major stations (Manurewa and Papatoetoe respectively)
I believe this has the potential to become a reasonable sized interchange station, given the Central Connector route passes along Park Road, next to the station. this gives great access to the Hospital and University area to those coming from the West.
I hope the station design will take this into account and it will be easy to transfer to the bus. Plus with integrated ticketing this transfer should be at no extra cost to a trip to Newmarket or Britomart from the West.
This is replacing Boston Rd so it won’t create any more stopping time for train timetables. It is close to schools and the domain so could be quite popular. If you are prepared to walk it, its also a substitute of sorts for when Newmarket West closes
Since Boston Rd is closing, I’d consider this an upgrade of sorts…
Grafton is the perfect name for the station. It pays respect a suburb which has suffered greatly from motorway development by being partially flattened and chopped into three. (Now the top of Symonds St, hospital area, and east of Symonds St in he CBD).
A new busy lay-by has been designed into the Park Road bridge so buses on the central connector route can stop without holding up traffic and drop / collect travellers from the station.