Weekly Roundup 12-May-2023

Welcome to Friday, it’s been a crazy week of weather in Auckland and we’re certainly looking forward to what is meant to be a more settled weekend. Here’s our latest roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. The Week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt asked if it is finally time to reform Kiwirail On Wednesday Matt looked at the impacts on public transport of the latest storm induced chaos Yesterday a guest post shone a light on intercity rail in the Upper North Island A continued focus on Kiwirail Kiwirail’s failures have continued to be in the news this week, including this good piece from Radio NZ’s The Detail looking at how things have gotten so bad.…
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Auckland Rain Déjà Vu

It was very much a case of déjà vu all over again yesterday, as Auckland received yet another round of torrential rain, resulting in flooding and significant disruption. Some parts of West Auckland received over 100mm of rain, mostly within just a few hours.…
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Penlink to be Tolled

On Monday the government announced Penlink would be tolled. This was far from certain given the government shied away from also tolling Puhoi to Warkworth and Transmission Gully and that Waka Kotahi consulted on this well over a year ago. Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced the decision to toll O Mahurangi Penlink to futureproof the vital connection in Auckland’s transport network.…
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Auckland’s Future Transport Projects Consultation

Mayor Wayne Brown has regularly called for “a joined-up, comprehensive transport plan, written by Aucklanders“. Earlier this year it was covered in a council agenda item and titled the Auckland Integrated Transport Plan. The Minister of Transport and the Mayor have agreed on the need for a broader plan to futureproof Auckland with a high-quality, joined-up transport system, which more closely integrates decision-making on cars, buses, trains, ferries, cyclists, pedestrians, freight and passenger rail and light rail.…
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Wellington rail in the news: on track, and off

The Wellington rail network has been the feature of a couple of major news stories over the last few days, one good – and one not so good. The not so good news – the network Firstly, today Wellington rail users are getting a very small taste of what it’s like to be a rail user in Auckland, an hors d’oeuvre of rail disruption if you will, after Kiwirail announced on Friday afternoon that speed restrictions will be placed on all lines and fewer trains would be able to run because they haven’t been able to check the network.…
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Weekly Roundup 28-April-2023

Welcome to the last Friday in April… that month went fast, eh? Settle in for a read of stories that caught our eye this week. The Week in Greater Auckland Another short work week with Anzac Day in the mix creating another welcome long weekend, so just two posts: On Wednesday, Matt looked at the options for the Onehunga line Thursday’s post was a guest article by Darren Davis and Malcolm McCracken, on the (rolling) tragedy of passenger rail in the lower North Island AWHC Consultation At the end of March, Waka Kotahi launched a consultation on a future harbour crossing with a variety of bridge and tunnel options presented, with some potentially costing an eye-watering $25 billion.…
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