| Manukau Branch | |
| Type: | Urban rail |
| Status: | Open[1] |
| Start: | Manukau |
| Stations: | 1 |
| Routes: | Eastern Line |
| Daily Ridership: | 1,650 (April 2018)[2] |
| Open: | 15 April 2012 |
| Owner: | KiwiRail (track and platforms) Auckland Transport (buildings) |
| Operator: | Auckland One Rail |
| Character: | Urban |
| Stock: | AM class EMU |
| Tracklength: | 2.5 |
| Tracks: | Two |
| Electrification: | 25 kV AC[3] |
The Manukau Branch is a spur railway line[1] off the North Island Main Trunk railway from Wiri to Manukau City Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the first fully new section of railway line constructed in Auckland since the Eastern Line in 1930. From Manukau, the branch connects to the NIMT in the north facing direction only.
The estimated cost of the project was $50 million.[1] Construction began in June 2008[4] with completion expected in late 2011.[5] However, due to other work on the Auckland network taking priority, completion was rescheduled for April 2012.[6] Station works were reported essentially finished by October 2011,[7] and the line opened on 15 April 2012.[8]
The branch leaves the NIMT south of Puhinui station and slightly north of the closed Wiri station. It runs on both New Zealand Railways Corporation and Auckland Council land. The NZ Transport Agency built some of the branch's earthworks. The extension of State Highway 20 to State Highway 1 included provision for the route.[9]
Following the opening of the branch, Auckland mayor Len Brown called for the completion of its south facing link to the North Island Main Trunk.[10] The earthwork formation (constructed by NZTA at a cost of approximately $25 million) for such a link is in place, but tracks need to be laid for it at a cost of approximately $1 million, and another $4–5 million would be required to reconfigure the Ports of Auckland/KiwiRail sidings which were built to a design that conflicts with the proposed southern link.
The branch has one railway station, Manukau train station, the terminus in Manukau City Centre. The station is intended to move more people into Manukau Central, an area identified by council as a future metropolitan centre.[11]
The station is in (and accessed via) a long trench, similar to the New Lynn station, to ease passage under nearby roads. A total of 47,000m2 of earth had been excavated when earthworks finished in May 2010.[5]
The station is located at the heart of a campus for the Manukau Institute of Technology, being below ground level with the campus building constructed above it.[11]
The branch opened on 15 April 2012.[12] After several months in operation, during June 2012 daily usage levels were around 500 to 600 passengers.[13] In April 2018, Manukau was the 11th busiest train station on the Auckland network with an average of 1,650 passengers on a typical weekday.
On 7 April 2018, a 23-bay bus station was opened on a lot adjacent to the train station to create a transport hub serving most of the southern Auckland Region. Services from the facility began the following day.[14]