[1] Electrification of the Auckland suburban network was completed in July 2015, and all passenger services on this line are electrified.

On 20 March 2023, Orakei, Meadowbank, Glen Innes, Panmure and Sylvia Park stations were closed due to Stage 2 of the Rail Network Rebuild, with buses replacing trains on this line between Ōtāhuhu and Britomart.

This eastern deviation had been proposed as early as the 1870s, but various events meant that it was never constructed, until traffic on the Auckland – Newmarket section of the NIMT began to experience significant delays.

[2][3] A small reclamation was made between 1905[4] and 1916,[5] 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) out of Queen Street into Mechanics Bay for goods yards and maintenance sheds.

[3] The first passenger train over the line was a Wellington Limited express, when a derailment at Penrose caused it to be diverted on 18 September 1930.