Subscribe to RSSNew Lynn underground rail trench an enormous job
As western line trains resume service, the challenging work on the New Lynn rail trench project is starting to show what’s involved.
There's a new temporary station
It’s going to take until mid-next year.
When this trench is completed, the double track railway will be lowered into it. This will allow trains to pass through the centre in both directions without holding up traffic which will then cross the railway on bridges. At present traffic is held up constantly because of street level crossings just along from busy Lynmall. There will be bridges to replace level crossings at Veronica St and the Clark St-Rankin Ave traffic roundabout.
This will transform the present uninviting but grandly called transportation centre.
The present transportation centre
The new station will be built in the underground trench and link directly to a bus interchange on the roads above so that passengers can transfer easily between bus and rail.
For commuters returning to the post- Christmas closedown services, the train tracks have been moved to one side to allow a temporary station. Huge cranes and moving machines indicate the scale of the work, which has to be done around the busy New Lynn centre.
Hmm.. where do you start?!
In the first stage lasting about a year. both side walls of the trench will be built underground first, then the trench will be dug out and the floor laid before the new station and tracks are built.
Along the path you can see three stages of work zones, each with a digging crane removing the earth and another crane to lower in the steel reinforcement cage.
You can see diagrams of the construction here
There are three work zones with two cranes at each spot
The trench to house the duplicate tracks will be 20m wide
Piles will be driven to depths of up to 40m
Trains go straight to Lynmall shopping centre
It's a very complex job
Tip: Click on any photo to make it bigger!
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Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
4 Comments
Yesterday I visited the newly opened railway station at New Lynn - now underground. Very good progress.
However as a person with walking difficulties I would like to ask a few questions about accessibility in getting to the underground station and the proximity of the bus station to the New Lynn shopping centre.
At present I see there is a lift provided which I hope will be adequate. Will they be providing escalators later and is there going to be more difficulty for shoppers to get to the bus station from the shopping centre (many patrons are elderly or carrying groceries etc). How much extra distance to walk and are there considerations made to safety re traffic.
Would very much appreciate a reply.
Thanks, Chris White
Chris,
This post is over a year old. Try posting in one of the newer threads to get more attention.
The lift and srairs at Memorial Brdieg are only temporary. The new Staion building has permanet escalator, stairs and lift inside. These are due to be commission by the end of July. They will rise up through and into the new station building, which has the bus stops ringed around its outside walls.
I was doing a site visit today, and I understand that the elevators at the bus interchange (western end) will be the only one(s). The other entrance at Hetana Street won’t get any, sadly.
If I understood them right, elevators were so costly that they wanted to have them only at one spot, though with all the money spent on the trench and station, that seems a false economy to me.