The initial case for faster trains between Auckland and Hamilton
Te Huia, new train service between Auckland and Hamilton is now tentatively due to start in November, having been delayed by COVID-19. Though given the state of the Auckland rail network right now, I wonder if it would be better to wait till the work to fix it has been completed before launching.…
121 Comments Lockdown extension and Mask Requirements on PT
As you will have undoubtedly seen by now, the current Level 3 lockdown in Auckland has been extended till Sunday and then Auckland will move to Level 2 from Monday – like the rest of the country.
Level 2 of course means that more businesses and activities can take place, though there are still conditions around distancing and the size of gatherings allowed.…
The CRL makes rail competitive off-peak
The growth of public transport in Auckland over the last 10-15 years (prior to COVID-19) has been impressive, having nearly doubled to over 103 million trips, although this was off a very low base.
As we’ve highlighted before, much of that growth has come from the Rapid Transit network of our rail lines and the Northern Busway. …
Weekly Roundup – 21-Aug-20
Here’s our wrap up for the week. Eastern Line shutdown
Following on from the news last week that Kiwirail would be slowing down the rail network to a maximum of 40km/h for six months while they replace worn rail. Yesterday they announced another step and that they would be shutting down the Eastern Line for two weeks from Monday.…
The things we should be copying from Sweden
With the re-emergence of COVID-19 in NZ we’ve once again seen some commentators calling for us to follow the Swedish model of letting the virus into the community in a bid for herd immunity. This has come about despite all the evidence so far pointing to them having achieved worse health and economic outcomes than those that have taken a more cautious approach, such as their neighbours and of course us.…
Conserving Aggregate
Road building delayed because governments ‘fail to plan for quarries’
This was the title of a Stuff article last month by Wayne Scott, the chief executive officer of the Aggregate & Quarry Association (AQA). He said:
politicians of all persuasions have paid only lip service to ensuring the rock, stone and sand which form the foundation for all infrastructure can actually be provided…
Transmission Gully’s delays and cost blowouts are the latest example.…
The $1.1b Rail Network Works
Just over a week ago, the government and Kiwirail officially kicked off about $1.1 billion of works to improve the rail network in Auckland. This work is on top of the $4.4 billion for the City Rail Link, and in some ways could be considered is about getting the network ready for a post CRL world.…
The Forty Decision-Makers
There are forty people who will decide whether we decarbonise transport in Auckland, and New Zealand’s ultimate climate response depends on achieving this by 2030. The legacy we leave our children – a city of health and opportunity, or a stranglehold on freedom – will be determined by these people making the right decisions now.…
Weekly Roundup – 14-Aug-20
It was already shaping up as a hectic week for news even before we had the COVID results on Tuesday night. Here’s our wrap up of some of the things that caught my attention. The Great Rail Network Slowdown
I’ll be writing about this more in the coming days but in case you haven’t seen, it turns out Auckland’s rail network is in much worse case than thought and around 100km of tracks needs new rails or other maintenance work done on them.…
CCO Review: change coming to transport in Auckland
On Tuesday the long-awaited review of Auckland’s Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) was released. While the headlines focused on the proposed merger between ATEED and Regional Facilities Auckland, there are also some important changes to how transport decisions are made, especially in the way that Regional Land Transport Plans are developed.…
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