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The Western Line in Auckland, New Zealand is the name given to suburban services that operate between Britomart and Swanson via Newmarket. ==Routing== From Britomart to Newmarket, the line uses the Newmarket Line, then follows the North Auckland Line to Swanson, the current northernmost station on the network. ==History== By the early 20th century, an intensive suburban service ran between Auckland and Henderson, with some trains progressing to Waitakere and Helensville. When the mixed trains were withdrawn, Helensville became New Zealand's northern passenger terminus with a daily service to Auckland. However, in February 1980, the Minister of Railways, Colin McLachlan, announced it would be cancelled due to a lack of rolling stock.〔''Rails'' magazine, March 1980, 15–16〕 On 18 August 1980, a new timetable was implemented – it eliminated the Helensville service and Croydon Road, St Georges Street, and Westbrook stations were closed to suburban traffic on a trial basis.〔''Rails'' magazine, September 1980, p.14〕 Commuter trains nowadays terminate at Swanson, or Henderson, and with traffic volumes increasing, the line is progressively being upgraded. Since the early 1990s, Auckland's commuter services have been revitalised. The ADK and ADL classes of diesel multiple units (DMUs) were purchased in 1993 to replace locomotive-hauled carriage trains. In 1997, as the DMUs stimulated increased patronage, work was undertaken by the Auckland Regional Council to extend platforms so that longer trains could be accommodated.〔(Auckland Regional Council: Rail Project Background )〕 So that more frequent services could be run, construction began on 9 April 2004 to double track the line between Mount Eden and Morningside.〔(Auckland Regional Council Press Release, 2 April 2004: The Prime Minister Launches Western Rail Line Construction )〕 When this new track entered service, a new timetable was introduced on 14 February 2005 with more frequent trains between Britomart and Waitakere, particularly during peak periods. This timetable also introduced short run services between Britomart and New Lynn.〔(ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 16 )〕 This was followed by the opening of a new double platform Kingsland station on 21 May 2005, replacing the old single platform station.〔 Further patronage growth meant that on 25 October 2005, another new timetable was implemented and it featured the re-introduction of features that had been absent for many years, including express services from Waitakere to Britomart on weekdays and Sunday trains between Britomart and New Lynn. The weekday service frequency to Swanson was cut to 37 minutes, but this meant trains to Waitakere ran only every 74 minutes.〔(ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 21 )〕 ;Helensville trial Beyond Waitakere, services between Auckland and Helensville resumed in July 2008 on a trial basis, with a minimum of forty passengers daily required for the train to be permanently reinstated,〔"West Rail Needs Passengers", ''Western Leader'', 1 November 2007.〕 but the service was terminated again in December 2009, because only an average of 43 passengers per day used the three daily services, causing a much above-average subsidy. ;Double-tracking The first section of the duplication had been undertaken by Auckland Regional Council, as 'Project Boston', adding 2.2 km of double track between Boston Road Train Station and Morningside Train Station by early 2005.〔 In May 2005, work began to prepare the rail corridor between New Lynn and Henderson for double tracking〔(ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 17 )〕 and construction of the double track commenced on 31 December 2005.〔(ARTA Rail Newsletter – Issue 23 )〕 On 19 December 2006, the central government approved a NZ$120 million package for double trackage in the other direction from New Lynn to Avondale; this included a 1 km long, 8 m deep trench through the centre of New Lynn for which construction began in 2009. On 8 June 2010 the double tracking of the Western Line was completed, enabling trains to run in both directions on one of two tracks all the way between the Britomart Transport Centre in the Auckland City Centre and the Swanson Station in Waitakere. The double-tracking cost $420 million and employed around 400 people.〔 The last section was a 3 km stretch between Avondale Train Station and Titirangi Road in New Lynn. From July 2015, off-peak Mondays to Fridays every second Western Line train from Britomart continued beyond Swanson to Waitakere when these services ceased and were replaced by buses.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rail service between Swanson and Waitakere to be scrapped )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Western Line, Auckland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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