Back in September, I blogged that discussions were 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.
Now that row has exploded, in typical Auckland fashion, and threatens to take the gloss of what should be a magnificent celebration of the new station opening mid-January.
The heated row is getting nasty.
No wonder, people I spoke to in the capital last week pull out the line about Aucklanders not being able to organise a piss up in a brewery. Let’s just recap some history. The labour government allowed the selling off of railway land around Newmarket for yet another dreadful apartment building. This restricted where the interchange could be placed.
This will mean we are back to the ridiculous situation – pre-Kingdon in which trains will go to the new station and then reverse direction to continue on the western line or head to Britomart. It’s been time saving and handy to have the present situation where west bound trains cut the corner and head down the track without having to chug along towards Remuera Rd and then reverse back.
As I mentioned recently, a number of passengers who get off at Newmarker’s temporary station say they will be back in their cars once the new station opens as Remuera Rd is too far for them to walk to their workplace , whereas the present stop is nice and handy. It’s certainly handy too for those wanting to use the swimming pool, movie complex , visit the Warehouse or head down to Parnell Rd. Personally, I don’t mind the 10 minute walk to Broadway to catch a southern train but I know that’ doesn’t suit others.
The problem is that, while Kingdon feels temporary but works OK as a station, the platforms will not accommodate the new electric trains. And there are some technical bridge issues with the electric overhead wires in the area if Kingdon is kept when electric trains start.
The ARC is also doing a report on the Parnell community’s proposal to establish a position on the proposed Parnell station, which is another option and one I like – although there may be a hike up the hill to Parnell.
The temporary Kingdon station will be abolished at Christmas during the big Christmas workathon but there’s an arm wrestle going on amongst the various bodies, ARC, ARTA and OnTrack.
One suggestion I pushed some time back was for every second or third western train to stop at Kingdon but the more I think about it, the more confusing it would be. Trains are not like buses with clear signage indicating variations in travel and you can imagine people screaming on board we were not going to their Newmarket stop and arguing with guards.
ARC chairman Mike Lee has been a strong supporter for it to be retained and under discussion now is whether Kingdon should be given a last minute reprieve from the hammer and kept at least until the RWC. The problem now is that the temporary station cost about three quarter of a million to build.
A permanent station in Kingdon, creating a second new station for Newmarket, suitable for electric trains, will cost in the millions – with estimates ranging from $10m to nearly $14m. That money just ain’t around.
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10 Responses to “Arm Wrestle over Kingdon”
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
you cant have stations placed at every little halt where a few people might want to get on and off. I wouldn’t believe anyone who says they would go back to driving because of a extra 5min walk. How far away are they going to park their car? All just media jumping on an of the cuff comment.
Not just media Luke. This heated debate has been going on behind the scenes for months, as I mentioned in my sept blog post. Now D-day is approaching, the noise has got louder and more urgent. But I agree we don’t want too many stops or it will be like bus travel!
Someone needs to phone up Mike Lee and explain to him how this is a really bad thing for Auckland’s train system.
It’s interesting Auckland museum tweeted today that they like the idea of Kingdon staying but think the Parnell one is too steep up the hill for some people which is probably right.
The Grafton station is closer to the museum anyway.
While Kingdon St has been useful for Western Line passengers, I reckon there’s no real alternative to it going.
More thoughts here: http://transportblog.co.nz/2009/11/30/newmarket-west-station/
we don’t want to many stops in that area, it would also incourage some trains skipping the main Newmarket Station which would dicourage users who would usually transfer from the Western to the Southern. So given the amount of custormers you would gain, you run the risk of detering more.
There is supposed to be a northern councourse and exit to Newmarket built eventually along with the 80 Broadway development.
This could be years away, and I think a better solution than keeping (or rebuilding) Newmarket West would be to build a temporary northern exit linking the platforms with the Broadway rail overbridge ASAP.
I live in Papakura. I work in Epsom. I study in Mt Albert. I do enough walking tofrom stations
without having to walk across Newmarket to transfer to a westbound train. Yes, I have a monthly rail pass this could mean I travel to the Brit, then transfer to a western train, but knowing the frequencies and transfer times, it is just not possible to transfer from a STH (not an EASTERN, a SOUTHERN) line train to a WST train without waiting 15 minutes. Transferring at Newmarket Station proper means I wait 5 minutes max, and get to Uni on time for lectures (evening lectures at UNITEC).
Kingdon Street can stay, if WST trains come into Newmarket first. Unfortunately, such a plan is
unlikely to be possible, as we will be adding more stops to lines which already have far too many stops. Why spend $1015m to add another hurdle to 10minute (sorry, 15, thanks Joycey)
frequencies?
In the grand scheme of things, which looks better to tourists coming for RWC 2011? If they get on a STH train from say Greenlane, why should they have to walk across Newmarket just to get to Kingsland? That’s a step backwards in integrating our public transport system, is it not?
“A permanent station in Kingdon, creating a second new station for Newmarket, suitable for electric trains, will cost in the millions – with estimates ranging from $10m to nearly $14m.”
When will people question ARTA planner lies? It does not cost $10-14m to build a new Kingdon St station, nor is there a need to rebuild it.
The platforms can be extended cheaply to the West, but this exposes the ARTA incompetents who just moved Boston Rd station east to Park Rd. ‘Oh no guys, we now have just a couple of hundred metres between platforms – quick, demolish Kingdon St over Xmas so no-one notices’…
Seriously, rebuilding Newmarket points to make it a full triangle (allowing direct Britomart-West running) gave one of the few real improvements. It means there is no reason for West trains to waste time going to the newly rebuilt Newmarket South station.
Build a pedestrian subway between Newmarket South and Kingdon St – it is only a couple if hundred metres as the mole burrows, and people cover that distance walking up and down the ramps on a footbridge over the tracks.
Problem solved.
Auckland’s rail system will never come into the 21st century while one still has to reverse a train to move it onto a separate line. Absolutely ridiculous. I thought the whole idea of redoing Newmarket was to avoid the reversal?