On Wednesday is one of the most important days of the year, ANZAC day. One of the key parts of the day is the dawn service and in Auckland thousands of people get up early to take part in the ceremony that takes place at the museum. Unfortunately because AZNAC day day is a public holiday it also means that all public transport is operated to a special timetable, a timetable which for trains at least, doesn’t start running till about 7am. That means it is simply impossible for anyone wanting to attend the dawn service to get there by train and I suspect that buses aren’t much better.
I put my address into the MAXX journey planner with a goal of getting to the museum by 5am and as well as no trains running there are also no buses either. That means the only option I have is to drive and to battle with the thousands of others for a car park if I want to attend.
Now I can understand why AT put on minimal services on normal public holidays, I don’t agree but I understand. ANZAC day is something different though and is unique in that there are large numbers of people getting up early to go to one part of the city, surely that should justify some special services so that people can pay their respects.
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Agreed, there should be regular trains and buses from 3am onward, just like in the hours ahead of an evening match at Eden Park.
What this demonstrates, yet again, is that those charged (and paid handsomely) with managing Auckland Transport are not users of the system. Until those in charge actually start sitting in their customers’ shoes nothing will really change. Maybe Mark Ford should be asked how is he getting to an ANZAC Day service and if he isn’t going by public transport why not?
The link normally runs before the dawn serviced- it was quite well advertised last year I believe .
The inner link is running from 5am, doesn’t help those living further out though.
I wonder if the lack of trains has anything to do with the noise for those living nearby? They’re not exactly quiet. This may change when the electric engines come into service (but don’t hold your breath).
For the record, I live halfway between the Kingsland and Morningside Stations, and get woken by the first train most mornings, but IMHO it’s a small price to pay for having a reasonably good service to the city and work. Plus, the western line has been there longer than I have, so who am I to complain 🙂
Up until a couple of years ago, the Maxx journey planner would suggest traveling the night before – when I moved from Wellington to Auckland, my initial commute was from Kumeu to Otara (insane in anyone’s books, I only did it for a few months), and the Maxx planner suggested that I catch a bus from Kumeu at something like 6:30pm the day before to get to Otara before 8:30am.
The system has obviously been updated to remove such suggestions 🙂
The deprivation of not being able to use PT would surely be laughed at by any of the soldiers whose lives you want to remember.
Why not attend Anzac Day commemorations where you live. They happen all over town and why not walk there?
Dawn services (the specific focus of this thread) only happen in a very few places, Hans. The Herald only lists 32 across the entire country, and only five (Auckland Museum, East Coast Bays, Papatoetoe, Waiheke Island and Warkworth) take place within the entirety of the Auckland Council area.
So, you were making some flippant remark about walking to something near where one lives?
You missed Albany, Avondale, Glenfield, Glen Eden, Birkenhead, Grey Lynn, Devonport, Manurewa, Mission Bay and others.
Not flippant, just realistic.
Dawn services. FFS, read.
Yes there are dozens of RSAs around Auckland, but the RS-freaking-A’s website only listed five dawn services across the region and 32 across the country. Or are you trying to say that there were dawn services at every RSA in Auckland and the master organising body was only aware of a tiny handful of them?
I remember once trying to plan a bus home from town to Glen Eden after midnight, and Maxx told me to walk as there was no bus available (presumably). Helpful. It is much more reassuring to see the “no journeys match…” message!
This article is unfair on AT. An internet survey of what other cities are offering would be helpful. In Melbourne, for example, there is only one tram service on each line for the dawn service, no trains and a few free pre-booked charter buses. The real PT demand is for the march, for which the main PT demand is for arrivals between 10 and 11 am and departures from about 12 noon until mid afternoon.
Melbourne did actually have trains running early enough for its dawn service. There was a crowd of 34,000. This is because a normal Saturday timetable was used for ANZAC Day, with the first services arriving in the city 5:00 to 5:30 am.
PT for the Dawn Parade is madness. It would involve all costs of additional costs re rostering as an example. I sure don’t want to catch a train at 4am from Manurewa. Either drive or go to a local service, even at 10am.
Sydney had 1 or 2 early services (arriving in city just before 4am) on every line, i didn’t go but I heard they’re very popular. Sydney’s rail network is far from perfect, but since moving here have realised it’s still a hundred times better than Auckland’s to say the least.
Has there been improvement in PT schedules for Anzac Day 2013?
The Inner LInk will start at 5am instead of 7am, running every 20 minutes. Other than that, nope. Normal Public Holiday schedule on every service.
http://www.maxx.co.nz/info/events/anzac-day-dawn-service.aspx