Sylvia Park Train Station Opens

MEDIA RELEASE
1 July 2007

Sylvia Park Train Station Opens

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 12 NOON, SUNDAY 1 JULY 2007

Sylvia Park will join the Auckland rail network with the formal opening of its own train station on Sunday 1 July 2007.

The first train to stop at the station will carry civic leaders from Auckland City Council, Auckland Regional Council, Auckland Regional Transport Authority and invited guests. They will be welcomed at the Sylvia Park Station by Angus McNaughton, the Chief Executive of the Manager of Kiwi Income Property Trust, the owner of Sylvia Park.

“This is a unique event in New Zealand rail history and needs to be marked in style,” Mr McNaughton says”.

“From the conceptual stage of Sylvia Park we saw the need to fully integrate the project with the transport infrastructure and incorporated the train station, a bus station and over 3,000 carparks for customers and staff into the design."

“The rail connection will be of particular benefit to customers, retailers and their staff, and to tourists visiting Auckland who wish to enjoy the world class shopping experience Sylvia Park offers.

In an effort to encourage the estimated 2,500 staff at Sylvia Park to utilise public transportation, Sylvia Park will be offering staff 2,000 free train trips to and from the Centre.

Mr McNaughton says that with the new train station integrated into the site, it provides a fantastic option for staff to travel easily to the Centre.

Mr McNaughton says rail is also likely to be the preferred transport option for many tenants of the proposed office buildings at Sylvia Park.

The Sylvia Park station is the first privately funded commuter train station to be built since the early days of trains in New Zealand. It will be served by all commuter trains on services between Britomart and Papakura via Glenn Innes, commencing Monday 2 July 2007. There will be up to four services an hour at peak times, and a twice per hour service off peak, Monday to Friday and at weekends. The trip from Britomart in the CBD to Sylvia Park will take approximately 20 minutes.

Sunday’s event follows the opening yesterday of the last stage of the 65,000m2 Sylvia Park retail centre. Sylvia Park is now the largest enclosed shopping centre in New Zealand with over 200 retail stores and community organisations offering international brands, iconic New Zealand retailers, an eclectic range of specialty retailers, a dining lane, adventure precinct, and the largest cinema screen for a 35mm projector in the world at the Hoyts Cinema complex.

ENDS

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