All Aboard to Pukekohe
An train ride down south
On Saturday, I along with several fellow urban nerds went on a train trip to Pukekohe. As trains returned to Pukekohe on the 3rd of February after being closed for 2 and a half years for the electrification of the line between Papakura and Pukekohe. This marked an important milestone as the commuter rail network in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is now fully electrified. So top up your HOP card (or grab your debit card if don’t have one) and head down to the platforms of Waitematā Station as we start heading down south.
On the way, we had a small stop at Middlemore Station. Where the station is getting upgrades as part of the Third Main Line project, which will increase capacity for freight and commuter trains and deliver faster and more reliable journeys. These upgrades include a new island platform being installed at the station to accommodate the third main line, a new pedestrian bridge with the existing footbridge being extended, new lifts, a new gate line and accessibility improvements. The Third Main Rail Line is expected to be completed before the opening of the City Rail Link (CRL).
We head back onto a Southern Line train as between Papakura we zoomed past the sites of the construction of Drury, Ngākōroa and Paerātā train stations which are due to open in 2026 to support the population growth of the area with new residential development recently completed, under construction and planned at Drury and Paerātā.
We arrived at Pukekohe Station, where the station was upgraded as part of the project. The upgrades include a new platform and track layout to accommodate 6-car trains and allow trains to pass easily through the station, new shelters, passenger waiting areas and a new stabling yard. As I mentioned above, Southern Line trains returned to the station on the 3rd of February running every 20 mins. Te Huia (the inter-regional train between Tāmaki Makaurau and Kirikiriroa Hamiltion) began stopping at the station on the 10th of February, opening up more transport connections to the wider public transport network in Tāmaki Makaurau and Waikato.
Passengers walk across the footbridge to the bus interchange to catch the Pukekohe Loop buses (391, 392, 393) which now run every 20 minutes, the 394 which now runs to Pareātā Rise (every 20 minutes peak times, every 1 hour other times), 395 and 396 which both run to Waiuku and buses to Waikato with the 21 (Northern Connector) and 44 (to Pōkeno and Tuakau), run by the Waikato Regional Council. We went on the 392, going on the loop around the northwestern suburbs of Pukekohe, including a look through a new subdivision.
We tagged off the 392 for a walk around the town centre, which is a nice town centre that is easy to walk around and nicely decorated with colourful murals. To help support the township as Pukekohe transforms from a rural town to an urban centre as the area is experiencing major population growth. Eke Panuku is planning a workstream of projects to add new life to the town as outlined in the Pukekohe Masterplan.
These projects include parklets to create opportunities for outdoor dining, upgrades to the town square, new developments and upgrades to Roulston Park to help create more vibrant and thriving communities especially as Pukekohe grows.
We head back onto the train to Homai to have a look at the completed station upgrades with access improvements with a ramp and stairs installed in the station to replace two pedestrian level crossings as part of the Level Crossing Removal Progamme. The removal of the level crossings helps improve the safety of accessing the nearby Blind Low Vision Education Network New Zealand (BLVENNZ) school, Guide Dog Training Centre and Blind Low Vision’s South Auckland office. New lighting, wider footpaths and new pathways have been installed. The colour scheme of the ramp and bright yellow handrails has been designed to be high contrast so that those with low vision to differentiate the sloping and flat sections of the ramp.
The ramp was designed in consultation with the blind and low-vision community with a 3D model to provide a tactile experience for blind and low-vision people can interact with and to get a better understanding of the proposal. The engagement also included automated announcements at the station. Auckland Transport and Beca won a Best Practice award for their community engagement for the project from the New Zealand Planning Insitute (NZPI).
As our adventure concludes where we started at Waitematā Station. It’s great to see trains return to Pukekohe and have a look around the town. It was also great to see the progress of the rail projects occurring along the Southern Line and look forward to seeing the progress over the next year, as these projects get closer to completion, just in time for CRL.
Exciting and so good to see this happening ..👍thanks for your work and information .