Waitakere Train Station

Waitakere Railway Station is located at the end of the Western Line of the Auckland Suburban Network and is currently the terminus for most Western Line services.

Waitakere station features a shunting yard, a turntable and has a small station building, which is in a poor state of repair.

Services

History

This station opened in 1881 and is one of the original stations on this section of the North Auckland Line. When it first opened it was called "Waitakerei". The station kept that name until 1909 when it changed to the current spelling. In 1972 the station's builing was replaced, the old building being relocated to MOTAT for preservation."Railway Stations of Auckland's Western Line" (2004) by Sean Millar]

This station has been the terminus for many suburban train services from the 1930s, a status it has retained despite a low level of patronage. In 1980, after a daily service between Auckland and Helensville was withdrawn, this station became the terminus point for all suburban services and the northernmost passenger station in New Zealand.

In recent years, to increase passenger capacity and to improve timekeeping, more trains are terminating at earlier stations on the line. During the off-peak period on Mondays to Fridays, every second train continues to Waitakere from Swanson while the other trains terminate at Swanson and return to Britomart. The decision was made so to allow more services to operate on the Western line, fitting within a very tight timetable on a mostly single track system. Fact|date=February 2007

Also, to improve passenger capacity during the peak, there are short-run services that terminate at Henderson Train Station and return to Britomart. Fact|date=February 2007

References