About & Description

The Auckland Airport Line is a proposed railway line in Auckland, New Zealand that would serve Auckland International Airport by connecting it to the Auckland rail network by an extension of the Onehunga Branch line.The main barrier was the crossing of the Manukau Harbour between Onehunga and the suburb Mangere Bridge. Transit New Zealand announced in 2007 that a new motorway bridge duplicating, and alongside, the existing 1983 Mangere Bridge would be designed to accommodate a rail link. In September 2007, Auckland Regional Transport Authority announced that it was willing to pay Transit $2.5 million to "future-proof" the duplication of the Manukau harbour crossing in order "to accommodate a passenger rail connection".The duplication of the bridge was completed in 2010. The new bridge can accommodate a rail link, and the successor to Transit New Zealand, NZ Transport Agency, provided for a rail corridor near the motorway as far as Walmsley Road. The proposed line was the most popular with the public of the three Auckland rail proposals of Mayor Len Brown, although the number of trains would be limited without the City Rail Link to Britomart Transport Centre.