The CRL and the North Shore

There was a useful comment on Nick’s post about the silly buses vs trains argument yesterday, asking if a better explanation could be made around how the City Rail Link benefits the North Shore. I’m going to take up that challenge because I certainly think there’s a general perception that the CRL only benefits those along the existing railway network – which obviously doesn’t include the North Shore.…
12 Comments

WRR up to $4b and counting

A couple of weeks ago I looked at the cost of the the Western Ring Route which when it is all said and done will have cost us over $3b however I did miss out some important details. I forgot about the impact on the connections to State Highway 1 in both the north and the south.…
11 Comments

Buses: cheaper replacement for the CRL or just an easy cop out?

Some great news yesterday, the mayor’s  has fended off the do nothing naysayer  CitRat elements of council and voted in favour of funding the land purchases and planning required to advance the City Rail Link to the next stage. As any regular reader here will know the CRL is a step-change project to turn Auckland’s neglected and underutilised rail system into an efficient regional rapid transit network.…
61 Comments

Electrifying to Pukekohe

The news got lost a bit in the panic leading up to Wednesday’s approval of Council’s Long Term Plan, but earlier in the week there was an NZ Herald article which highlighted that Auckland Transport is looking at extending electrification to Pukekohe, around 18 km further south than the current proposed end of electrification at Papakura.…
28 Comments

April Patronage Report

April’s PT patronage report is out and there are some positive things to report after a disappointing March. Here are the highlights according to AT Auckland public transport patronage totalled 70,558,521 passengers for the 12 months to April 2012 an increase of 5,795,446 boardings or +8.9%.…
27 Comments

RoNS and Treasury Guidelines

There was an intriguing question and answer session in parliament today between the Greens’ Russel Norman and Finance Minister Bill English, around Treasury’s Guidelines for Better Business Cases and the various Roads of National Significance. The transcript can be read here.…
17 Comments