A year ago today transport in Auckland was forever changed as the first electric trains started carrying passengers – although they didn’t start running in normal service till the following day.
Electrifying Auckland’s rail network is something that had been on and off the transport agenda for almost 90 years. There’s a more detailed history of how we got to the current point in this post however briefly the first talk of electrifying the network originated in the 1920’s and were associated with the Morningside Deviation (early version of the CRL). This came about as electric trains would have been needed to operate in the tunnel. It was the extra cost for electrification – which they said would need to extend between Papakura and Helensville – which helped to kill off the tunnel plan. Calls for the network to be electrified have been made at other times – such as in the 1930’s when the Wellington network was being electrified and as part of other CRL type schemes.
It wasn’t until the mid 2000’s after Britomart opened that we started to get serious about electrification with the then Labour government finally approving it in 2007. After the current government came to power they decided to review the project however thankfully a year later agreed to carry on with the project.
Since they launched not everything has been plain sailing for the new trains or the network. We quickly learned the trains were running slower than the old diesels they replaced which turned out to be a mix of the overly restrictive new signalling system and longer dwell times thanks to the door operations. As of today some of these issues have been addressed although there definitely seems to still be room for improvement. Over the year there has been a few other issues too such as power fluctuations on the network affecting trains and traction issues – both of which are now meant to be fixed.
In August the trains started running from Manukau – initially just off peak before all services were electric a few months later. In December Auckland Transport significantly increased the number of services to Manukau while at the same time splitting out the southern and eastern line services so all Eastern line trains go to Manukau and all Southern line trains to Papakura/Pukekohe. We’ve also seen a few electric services on the Southern line and a couple of isolated ones on the Western line and Auckland Transport have announced all services between Swanson and Papakura will be electric by the end of July.
According to the most recent AT board report we now have 50 of the 57 trains ordered in Auckland and an ever increasing number have passed their tests and are available to be used
We might be only a year in however we’re already seeing the Sparks Effect occurring with significant increases in patronage on the lines that have electric trains running. The graph below shows the rolling annual patronage on the Onehunga line which you can see has really kicked up a gear from May 2014 onwards (May was the first full month of operations).
Splitting out the Manukau line patronage is a bit more difficult due to the changes made in December – although it appears the Eastern line is growing even more strongly. When looking at the Southern, Eastern and Onehunga lines combined compared to the non-electrified Western line the difference in growth recently is quite clear with the former accelerating away – although I’d expect the Western line to grow strongly once services start too.
While it hasn’t been completely smooth sailing I certainly think the change has been a welcome improvement and I would expect services and reliability to continue to get better over time as every little issue gets worked through.
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Considering the Onehunga line reopened in 2010, only about 3.5 years before EMUs last year, the patronage growth on it has been astounding.
It should be pointed out that there are a lot of folks at the intermediate stations of Ellerslie, Greenlane, Remuera and Newmarket who do seem to use the Onehunga line EMUs over the SA units from/going to points further south.
No doubt the superior features of the EMUs help these PT users show their “revealed preference” for using EMUs which is why Onehunga line recent patronage is so high.
I note this comment from the original Herald article in 2006 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383079) about the reopening of the line:
“Although transport planners using computer modelling predict only 340 passengers would catch trains from Onehunga during each morning traffic peak by 2016, Mr [Cameron] Pitches said no one could have foreseen the tremendous popularity of new rail services around the region. “We believe that having talked to 8000 people around Onehunga we have a better idea of how viable it is rather than looking at a spread sheet,”
Once again proving how inept the transport planners are at doing basic modelling flow of PT usage when actual usage in the AM Peak is now well over 10 times that number. 340 passengers is not even 1 3 car EMU’s worth of people.
And the EMU’s run at least 4 trips on the AM peak during weekdays. So yeah I think we broke that projected record many years back now.
And when coupled with reports of packed to the gunwhales 6 car EMU’s at GI (the busiest station on the network outside of Britomart), Panmure station usage through the roof and 6 trains an hour at peak on the Eastern Line you can see why the top line on the graph is racing away from the bottom line.
But poor old Western line hasn’t had any love or increases in frequency for many years and has had to make do with less and less, its a wonder their graph is even staying flat, let alone going up.
Hopefully, those folks out west will all benefit from us guinea pigs south of Newmarket who have helped iron out the kinks in the system so that when the EMUs start there in earnest they’ll get a better EMU service on introduction than either Onehunga or Eastern line folks did last year.
Reluctantly, it seems given how bad the Governments planners are at getting the PT user number forecasts right, we may become further victims of our own PT patronage success before too much longer at this rate of growth.
And CRL won’t be along soon enough to save us from another crisis.
If the modellers predicted 340 people getting on at Onehunga in the morning peak then the certaimly were well off the mark. http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2014/12/17/station-boarding-stats-for-201314/ data suggests Ohenhuga had 134,802 boardings or around 361 per day. So yes you are right if they though 340 per hour would get on they were well and truly off the mark but not in the direction you think.
It’s actually 369 per day, but that is pretty dishonest as it said peak so we need to take out all public holidays, all weekend days and any day that the rail station is closed, and then take out passengers outside of say 7-9am.
And it was for sometime in 2016, which last time I checked my calendar, hadn’t actually happened yet.
And was at number 21 in a list of 42 stations, in terms of usage. so from nothing to 21st most popular in 30 months is nothing to be sneezed at.
Given those numbers were also only until end of June 2014 there’s clearly been growth since then. Even seen someone say all seats on a single train used up by the time it got to Penrose.
OK I accept all of that but it is still nothing like the 340 times 10 in the morning peak suggested above. With some good strong growth the person with the spreadsheet that got disparaged in the Herald might just end up close. But then he or she used a rational analysis rather than just making crap up.
AT have already said Onehunga is on track to at least meet that target but Te Papapa is ahead of projections and that was 2.5 years ago
http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2012/09/26/onehunga-is-now-ready-for-electric-trains/
Just to clarify mfwic, the prediction the planners had was 340 per 2 hour AM peak, not 340 per hour in the AM peak in 2016.
Since 4 3 car EMUs currently leave Onehunga in the AM peak, with a capacity of 375 (seated and standing) the maximum all the peak AM EMUs can carry is 375, times 4 (trips per AM peak) = 1500.
This limit of 4 is imposed by the track and signalling. If 1500 people boarded the Onehunga trains in the AM peak, there would be no room for anyone else at other Onehunga branch lines e.g. Te Papapa or Penrose stations to board.
Track configuration means that the combined total capacity of the Onehunga line per direction in the AM peak (from Onehunga to the main line and v.v.) is 1500.
So it can’t ever be ten times the 340 figure due to that limitation.
Yes, they’re hopeless. They love overestimating motorway projections, and underestimating anything PT related and they get proved equally wrong for both.
And btw, New Lynn is the busiest suburban station on the network (if you exclude Newmarket).
Your’e wrong on New Lynn being busiest.
See this visualisation from Aaron Schiff http://schiff.co.nz/interactive/aklrail/ for analysis of 1 whole years worth of AT HOP trips.
Check the “All Trips” option and click New Lynn and Glen Innes stations to compare these two for patronage.
You’ll see that GI is head a shoulders above New Lynn.
The next busiest station after GI is Papatoetoe.
No Greg, New Lynn is third busiest station but many trips from there are to other stations along the western line whereas almost all trips from GI are to Britomart. Aaron’s visualisation comes from the data in this post
http://greaterakl.wpengine.com/2014/12/17/station-boarding-stats-for-201314/
Right you are, misread the chart, for Britomart (only) as a source or destination, GI is up there at number 1 or 2 (#1 as a “from Britomart” destination). For “to Britomart” as origin Newmarket is number 1 then GI just behind it.
But once cross trips included it drops off relative to the others.
Why GI is so damn busy like this I don’t really understand. Must have a lot of buses to meet the trains there as there’s no real park and ride to speak of. But it is a fare boundary and Ellerslie sees the same effect as well on the Southern Line too.
I expect this years figures will show GI is even busier than it was last year since the electrics and increase in frequency will put more people on the trains, because for most of last year, the GI line was like the Western line – totally full.
With twwets about how 6 car EMUs at GI being at crushload at peak, you must be moving a serious number of people there in the AM peak.
Would be interesting to see update boarding stats for the stations. I’m sure some of the stations (ie Manukau & Panmure) would have jumped up the list dramatically.
It’s not easy getting that data out of AT. Plan is to wait till after June then ask again.
Yeah, bring on the Western line EMUs.
Will be great to have the extra capacity on the western line. I’ve heard rumours however that they are having trouble with 6 car EMUs on the western line and they might only be introducing 3 cars in the short to mid term on the western line (excluding Kingsland special trains) as they have yet to be sign off 6 cars for regular service due to an issue with some of the platforms and the wheel chair ramps. There are also some concerns regarding the Westfield-Penrose neutral section due to the warner signal approaching the Penrose platform limiting the speed in which some trains can go through the area.
They look great through and Im sure at some point they will prove their worth 🙂
That first photo is screaming ‘modern’ which is something I still struggle sometimes to equate with Auckland rail! So pleased for all concerned.
Yeah, that first photo says to me ‘a mix of transport options’. Something that has been sadly lacking in Auckland for many years.
If Auckland had adopted electrification in the 1930s it would have been stuck with the 1500 V DC that Wellington has today.
Not sure that is such a big deal Kerry. Many countries with successful electrification using low voltage DC – France was able to get 200km/h + out of theirs, and it is widespread in Japan. Of course high voltage AC is better but I think if Auckland had Wellington’s scheme it would be a much bigger system by now.
It’s no kind of issue at all, as it didn’t happen. One of the few advantages of us having such an undeveloped passenger rail system is that now when we build it up we are getting brand new kit. That is certainly the case at the Wiri Depot, and this should mean efficient lower cost operations…. assuming these ETCS, door, and network issues are sorted we’re going to have a sweet little network, and post-CRL a sweet little Metro supporting a great little city.
We live close to the Greenlane train station. Generally, we will time a discretionary trip to coincide with the new trains. My wife will wait at Britomart for the Onehunga electric train rather than take an earlier diesel train if the difference is less than 15 minutes.
EMUs on the Western Line and a serious bit of grade separation so that it’s possible to run them at a relatively decent speed and more frequently. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem AT is all that bothered. It’s an issue that has been around for ages that nobody seems to want to address.
Just running Auckland electrification through my alternative history simulator in my head.
I would posit had it occurred in the 1930s as in Wellington, it would have been the same as Wellington ie English Electrics and some electric locos. A more modest system obviously and might have resulted in an underground a bit sooner.
On the basis that Upper Hutt and Paraparaumu were both electric by 1985 I could guess it would have reached Swanson and Pukekohe by that time too (ignoring the impact of different motorway building).
I would also guess that the NIMT electrification might have been extended at both ends (to avoid 3 loco changes!) and resulted in dual voltage haulage as well as a dual voltage QR style intercity EMU set connecting Auckland and Wellington.
Potentially then Britomart might have been built for suburban electrics only, as a system that was both stronger and more relevant to Aucklander’s needs might have seen fit to leave the long distance trains at the old station (long distance trains would have included the Wellington EMU plus others running to Hamilton only).
Presumably in this favourable electrification scenario, Christchurch and Dunedin might have had electric suburban services as well.
If electrification had of happened in the 1930’s then my guess is the Morningside deviation (CRL) would have happened around 1950 as it was the cost of doing both at the same time that killed both. That would have established a core network that would have seen patronage grow and Auckland develop very differently
Might have even given the trams a lease of life perhaps too?
Perhaps, but I think it’s more likely we would have still lost the trams and instead kept the trolley buses for much longer like Wellington did.
It is important to note that the Onehunga line has shown steady and significant growth and no one has noted it is a single track (not double tracked).
Why is that double tracking is seen as so important? Start of with a single track and let it grow. We could have more track to more destinations if we put in single track lines.
I note the above discussion on light rail suggests double track. Why not single track with double track so light rail can pass other units in the opposite direction. Old style tram management.
We could be doing a lot more for the dollar, than buying a downtown Rolls Royce solution up front.
Or we could built it right first for once, and save over the long term. Onehunga has two trains an hour. That is insufficient frequency for most routes. However I do agree that incremental extensions and improvements like the O-Line are very important. And certainly the O-Line frequency could be improved with less than full double tracking, and indeed extension to the airport and 10 minute frequencies could be maintained with sort sections of single track, in particular on a new structure under the existing Mangere bridge. A single track between a new Onehunga Station and one at Mangere Bridge would be fine with a train every 5 mins [both ways]. But much of the exiating line would also need double tracking and separating from levels crossings. Worth it.
I support going to Mangere Bridge and then the airport. A quick Google look at the Onehunga line suggests to me that most of that track will remain single track.
The best option is double track passing bays if the train frequency is stepped up which is required for the airport.
Double track from Mangere bridge to the airport will help especially as their could ba considerable amount of freight going to Airport Oaks.
We need to consider how best we can get the best for our dollar, and in many cases this will not be “a gold plated whizz bang train se”t, but just a lot better than we had before.
I would really like to see a rail extension from Onehunga to Mangere Bridge as soon as possible. It would really expand the catchment area significantly and amplify the transport options for a whole suburb, hopefully reducing auto dependency for those on that part, on the southern side of the Manukau Harbour.
Ah yes, only the poor folk of Pukekohe will soon have to put up with the relics of a bygone era.
Are there EMUs already on the Western? Could’ve sworn I saw one pulling into Newmarket from the West a few days ago, about 6:30pm.
Will be interesting to see a standardised fleet; that ought to make re-scheduling trains simpler. This overhaul of the rail network is long overdue. Just seem to be a few entry-to-service bugs about still (hopefully all good soon!)
On another note: does anyone know where the mock-up at MOTAT went? Tried to find it last time I was there but couldn’t. Would be interesting to see the driver’s view
They seem to have started using them as back ups when something goes wrong. There’s one out west tonight too, a 6-car EMU even.
It’s amazing those paired EMUs can fit at platforms, as they are so LLLOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG sitting at Britomart!