North Auckland Line facts for kids

A passenger train stopped in Portland, on the North Auckland Line in 1923.

The North Auckland Line (NAL) is a very important part of New Zealand's national railway system. It stretches from Westfield Junction in Auckland, goes through Newmarket Station, then heads west to Waitakere. From there, it travels north all the way to Otiria near Whangārei.

The first part of this railway opened in 1868. The entire line was finally finished in 1925. Over the years, different parts of the line have had different names, like the Kaipara Line.

The North Auckland Line is a name for the railway track itself, not a specific train service. The very first part of the line, from Westfield Junction to Newmarket, was actually built as part of another big railway, the North Island Main Trunk Railway. Later, the North Island Main Trunk was changed, and the Westfield-Newmarket section became part of the North Auckland Line.

Today, three of Auckland's suburban train lines use parts of the North Auckland Line.

• The Southern Line runs on it between Westfield Junction and Newmarket Station.
• The Onehunga Line uses it between Penrose Station and Newmarket Station.
• The Western Line travels on it between Swanson Station and Newmarket Station.

The North Auckland Line used to go further north to Opua in the Bay of Islands. This section is now owned by the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway. Regular trains stopped running there in 2001, but a small part reopened in 2008 for special trips.

The government announced in 2020 that they would spend $109.7 million to upgrade the line. A big part of this work is making 13 tunnels taller. This will allow bigger containers to be carried on the trains. A new container terminal is also planned for Otiria. There's also a plan for a new railway branch, the Marsden Point Branch. This would connect the North Auckland Line to Northport, a deepwater port at Marsden Point.

What are the Branch Lines?

A branch line is like a smaller road that splits off from a main highway. The North Auckland Line has a few of these:

• The Onehunga Branch connects at Penrose. It's used by the Onehunga Line passenger trains.
• The Newmarket Line joins the North Auckland Line at Newmarket. It connects to the Britomart train station in central Auckland.
• Further north, the Dargaville Branch splits off in Waiotira. This branch also had its own smaller branch line that went to Kaihu and Donnelly's Crossing.

Some other branch lines, like the Okaihau Branch and the Riverhead Branch, used to be part of the network but are no longer in use.

How Was the Line Built?

Building the North Auckland Line was a huge and difficult project that took many years. Different sections were built at different times. People realized that a main railway line was needed to connect these separate railways. This would help transport people and goods to and from New Zealand's northern areas. It would also help new businesses grow.

Some parts of the line were very challenging to build. The tunnels, in particular, were known for being very tough construction jobs.

Early Sections and Challenges

The very first part of what became the North Auckland Line opened in 1868. It was a private line built to carry coal from Kawakawa to a wharf at Taumarere. It was originally a wooden track, not a metal railway! It was also built to a wider size than New Zealand's standard railway tracks. The government bought it in 1875 and changed it to the standard size a few years later.

Another early section was built to help timber companies. They needed a way to get wood from the Kaipara Harbour to Auckland. So, a line was built from the Kaipara to a wharf at Riverhead. This line opened in 1875 and greatly reduced transport costs.

Coal discoveries also led to new railway sections. In the Kamo area, a railway was approved in 1877 to carry coal to Whangārei. Construction began in 1879, but it was slow because of unstable ground. The full line opened in 1882.

The first part of the line north from Auckland, between Newmarket and Westfield, was actually built in 1873 as part of the Onehunga Branch. Later, it became part of the North Auckland Line. The line then slowly extended north from Auckland, reaching Helensville by 1881. This connected to the Kaipara-Riverhead section, making the Riverhead part of the line unnecessary.

Connecting the Gaps

By the mid-1870s, the wharf at Taumarere wasn't big enough. So, a new deepwater wharf was planned at a place called "Newport," which later became Opua. A railway was built to connect Kawakawa to Opua, opening in 1884.

In the late 1880s, people wanted to connect the Kamo and Kawakawa lines. This was especially important for the timber industry. A big forest, Puhipuhi, needed a railway to transport its wood. After some delays and political discussions, construction finally began in 1892. The line slowly opened in stages, reaching Waro in 1894 and Hukerenui by 1901. The final section connecting Whangārei to the Bay of Islands was completed in 1911. This part of the line cost nearly a million dollars to build!

The last big gap to fill was between Helensville and Whangārei. This was a very difficult section because of soft clay. It took many years, with the line opening in small stages. The longest bridge on the line, the Otamatea Bridge (313 meters long), was finished in 1914. World War I slowed down construction. Finally, on November 29, 1925, the North Auckland Line was fully completed.

How the Line Has Been Improved

Since the 1920s, many improvements have been made to the North Auckland Line.

• Some level crossings (where roads cross the railway) were replaced with bridges.
• The line was made straighter and less steep in places, especially between Avondale and Waitakere. This made it easier for trains to travel.
• More sections of the line were made into double tracks, especially between 2005 and 2010. This allows trains to travel in both directions at the same time.
• The Makarau Tunnel (573 meters long) north of Helensville was made wider in 1968. This allowed bigger diesel locomotives and large shipping containers to pass through.
• In 1981, a new section of track called the Swanson (Waitakere) Deviation opened. This made the line less steep and removed some sharp curves, allowing trains to carry more weight.

How Trains Use the Line

Passenger Trains (Past and Present)

In the early days, trains on the North Auckland Line mostly served local areas. Once the whole line was finished, a special passenger train called the Northland Express ran between Auckland and Opua. By the 1950s, it ran three times a week and took over five hours to get from Auckland to Whangārei. However, the line was very winding, so trains were slow. They couldn't compete with cars.

In 1956, modern railcars replaced the old trains. These were popular, but they often broke down. In 1967, all dedicated passenger services stopped. The Auckland Harbour Bridge had opened in 1959, making road travel much faster. After this, passenger carriages were sometimes added to freight trains. These "mixed services" were very slow and unpopular, and they stopped running in 1976.

Since then, no regular passenger trains have run beyond Auckland's suburban network. Only special excursion trains run a few times a year. There was a short trial of commuter trains to Helensville in 2008-2009, but not enough people used them.

Auckland Commuter Services

Passenger trains for people traveling to work or school have always been important on the North Auckland Line. Trains on the Western Line run between central Auckland and Swanson. Until 2015, they went all the way to Waitakere, but now electric trains run to Swanson, and a bus takes people the rest of the way to Waitakere.

Freight Services

Carrying goods by train in Northland was often difficult. There weren't many people living there, and ships along the coast offered strong competition. For example, in 1910, one fruit grower found it cheaper to send canned fruit by boat all the way around New Zealand to Auckland, rather than using the railway!

Today, freight services usually operate in two main sections: Auckland to Whangārei, and then local services north of Whangārei. Trains run twice every weekday between Auckland and Whangārei. North of Whangārei, local trains go to Kauri, which is an important shipping point for the Fonterra dairy factory.

In 2016, KiwiRail announced that regular freight services north of Kauri would stop. So, Kauri is now the "new" end of the North Auckland Line for most freight. By 2019, only one return freight train ran on the line each weekday, mostly carrying dairy products and timber. The line often had problems, with over 70 closures between 2010 and 2019.

Making the Line Better (Rejuvenation)

Since 2007, there have been many discussions about upgrading the North Auckland Line. A big goal is to make the tunnels taller so that large "Hi-Cube" shipping containers can travel on the trains. This would help connect Marsden Point to Auckland.

In 2016, KiwiRail estimated it would cost $240 million to upgrade the section from Waitakere to Whangārei. In 2017, they said that 9 tunnels would need changes, costing $50 to $60 million, to fit the larger containers.

In October 2017, the government announced plans to spend $500 to $600 million to fix up the line. They also planned to build the new branch line to Northport at Marsden Point, which would cost another $200 million.

A report in 2019 looked at the costs and benefits. It found that the total cost for upgrades and the new branch line would be about $1.3 billion. The report also noted that the railway line from Whangārei to Westfield is about 30 km longer than the road. Because of speed limits, a train trip takes about 7 hours, compared to 3 hours by road.

In May 2019, the government announced $300 million for the North Auckland Line. This money would be used to replace 85,000 railway sleepers, lower the tracks in 13 tunnels, rebuild 7 bridges, and reopen the section from Kauri to Otiria. It would also build a new container terminal at Otiria.

In September 2019, another $94.8 million was given for upgrades. This money would replace old wooden bridges, repair tunnels, upgrade tracks, clear drains, fix slopes, and improve the Whangārei Rail Yard.

The line was closed from June 2020 to January 2021 for a $110 million project. This work involved replacing five bridges and lowering the tracks in thirteen tunnels. These upgrades allow the line to carry high-cube containers. KiwiRail expects these improvements to cut about 1.5 hours off the travel time.

What Trains Run on the Line?

In the past, different types of trains have been used on the North Auckland Line. When the railway around Whangārei was separate from the main network, it had special steam locomotives.

Since 1966, diesel-electric locomotives have been used. In 1968, the Makarau tunnel was made larger to fit the powerful D^A class diesel locomotives. These were the main trains used until 1989. Now, other types of diesel locomotives, like the D^F, D^X, and D^C classes, can also use the line.

Tunnels on the Line

There are thirteen tunnels along the North Auckland Line. Many of them have been changed to allow bigger "Hi-Cube" containers to pass through.