Avondale–Southdown Line

One of its main functions would be to remove north–south freight trains from parts of the Auckland rail system that have significant passenger traffic.

[4] KiwiRail has reached an agreement with the NZ Transport Agency over a land swap needed for a realignment of the highway and railway corridors.

[5] Another proposal exists to connect the Onehunga Branch at Galway Street to the Avondale—Southdown line by building a tunnel under Onehunga Mall to meet Hugh Watt Drive (State Highway 20) before connecting to the proposed route at Hillsborough.

[8] In May 2007, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) announced that it had formed a study group with ONTRACK to investigate the feasibility and costs for the section between Captain Springs Road in Southdown and Hillsborough Road in Mount Roskill.

The project is part of the draft 30 year Auckland Rail Programme Business case.

The Auckland passenger rail network as of 23 October 2019. The rail freight terminal at Southdown is located to the east of Te Papapa station. It is the terminus of the Southdown Branch (freight only) which diverges off the Southern Line.