Still chuffed: CRL Week One success

The City Rail Link has a bit of a secret power. It doesn’t just transport you around Auckland, but even further afield. Standing on the platform at Te Waihorotiu at certain times in the middle of the peak, with up to four trains turning up and departing within a five-minute period, it gives off the vibe of a real metro and can make you feel like you’re in a city far away.

That secret power will wane over time as taking the train becomes a more everyday experience for Aucklanders. But in its place will be ever more people making use of the new possibilities the CRL has unlocked.

Last week we reported our impressions of Day One, and now we have a week’s worth of information about how it’s going. Already, Aucklanders are flocking to use the CRL with the early numbers showing a massive increase in train use, smashing the record for the busiest single week of use on the rail network with over 528,000 official boardings.

Karanga-a-Hape Station Platform 1 after school. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

Auckland’s rail network has recorded its busiest week ever in the first seven days of CRL services, a strong early sign of Aucklanders embracing the new system, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown say.

A total of 528,007 train boardings were recorded between Sunday 13 September and Saturday 19 September, beating the previous seven-day record of 504,380 set in March 2019 by more than 23,000.

“The CRL is one of the most significant transport investments in New Zealand’s history, and it’s fantastic to see Aucklanders getting on board in such huge numbers after waiting years for its arrival,” Mr Bishop says.

“The week before the CRL opened, Auckland’s rail network recorded 325,203 boardings. One week later, patronage was up by around 62 per cent, showing the immediate difference the new system is already making to the way Aucklanders move around the city.

“People were eager to try the new network right from the first services on Sunday, with early risers turning up for the first train at 4.57am from Ōtāhuhu. By the end of opening day, 56,757 train boardings had been recorded. Momentum continued to build throughout the week, peaking at 85,289 boardings on Thursday.

“The network also performed strongly as Aucklanders got used to the biggest change to the city’s rail system in generations. Punctuality and reliability of train services remained consistently in the mid-to-high 90 per cent range throughout the working week, strengthening further as the week went on.

“A strong performance in the first week was important for building confidence in the CRL as a reliable, genuine public transport alternative for Aucklanders who might otherwise choose to travel by car.

“For years, the focus was on getting the CRL built. Now the exciting part begins as we see what Auckland can do with it, joining the great modern cities around the world where fast, frequent rapid transit is part of everyday life.”

Karang-a-Hape Station Beresford St. photo PR

That’s a fantastic early result, and something so clearly out of line with the results we’d been seeing over the last few years. It shows that Aucklanders are keen for better options.

A key part of this new record was a significant increase in ridership on the weekends – so while the weekdays weren’t quite as the level of March Madness 2019, the massive increase in weekend usage secured the new record.

Absolutely, some or all of the extra trips will simply be people investigating the stations and network – many of whom may be riding trains in Auckland for the first time – but there will also be many new or returning rail users who are keen to make use of the improved service.

Auckland Transport told us yesterday afternoon that this Monday was tracking only around 10% lower than last Monday, and thus still significantly higher than we’ve seen in the last few years.

They also told us that numbers for both buses and ferries last week were up on the week before. That’s positive, as it highlights that while the CRL is likely to encourage some change in choice of public transport mode – such as people in the inner west shifting from bus to train – there is still overall growth happening in the system. This is something that’s bound to continue as fuel costs start to rise again.

It’s also worth a reminder that ridership growth from projects like the CRL doesn’t happen all on Day One, but instead is realised over many years. A great example of this was the electrification of the rail network which resulted in around three years of sustained high-growth and was still growing until COVID emerged.

So in this case, I expect we’ll have many years of strong growth ahead – providing Auckland Transport, Auckland One Rail and KiwiRail can keep the network running smoothly.

Interestingly, actual ridership is likely to be even higher than the numbers reported above. The data above is based on the HOP system, so it only counts when people tag on. So, it doesn’t pick up people who (like me and my family) tagged on, and then visited the various stations to take a look, but without tagging off at each station.

Auckland Transport also has automated counters onboard their trains which actually count people as they get on, allowing for a more accurate count of actual ridership. The latter were the numbers that were first reported last week, and they were even higher again – which will be largely due to lots of people hopping on and off trains to check out the tunnels and stations without ever leaving them.

Another interesting fact Auckland Transport shared with us was that Waitematā was still the number one station for boarding or alighting, with Te Waihorotiu not far behind.

This is interesting, as previous modelling suggests that the latter would grow to become the busiest station within in first year – and it still may, but it isn’t there yet. Perhaps even more interesting was that Karanga-a-Hape was not all that far behind them, which is notable as previous modelling suggested it would be significantly lower.

I’m sure there were plenty of people just waiting for something to go wrong – especially in the media, which to its credit has been reporting the positive news – but other than a few minor issues, the CRL had a great Week One. Well done to Auckland Transport, Auckland One Rail, KiwiRail and everyone who helped make the first week go pretty smoothly.

Karanga-a-Hape Station Beresford St. Photo PR

Making it even better

There’s more good news too, as the network is about to get even better soon. Auckland Transport is planning to update the timetable again in November, which will see most of the East-West line running at 8 trains per hour per direction at peak.

There are currently short-running services that run between Sylvia Park and Kingsland at peak times. This will be extended to Henderson, providing more capacity and further improving the ability to transfer between E-W and S-C services at Karanga-a-Hape. (Auckland Transport says the thing preventing this improvement from being extended to Swanson is concerns around the Metcalfe Rd level crossing, which from what I can tell is the busiest road level crossing in the country)

The November improvements will also see 15-minute frequencies continue till about 11-11:30 on Friday and Saturday nights, a very welcome improvement.

Further improvements are planned for February 2027, which is expected to see frequency improvements to the South-City line.

At this stage the changes are largely about filling in the gaps in the timetable, so they won’t change travel times. However, Auckland Transport do say they’re looking at how they improve dwell times and other train operations, which will allow travel time improvements eventually.

But still: getting to 8 trains per hour, per direction, on the two main lines at peak, will be a key milestone. Because the two main lines overlap in the CRL, and at Puhinui-Ōtāhuhu, this means a peak frequency 16 tph/pd – a train every 3:45mins each way – on those core sections. A real glimpse of the future, more a real metro-like experience. This will especially be able to be felt on the relatively narrow island platform at Te Waihorotui.

Imagine, a city.

Karanga-a-Hape Station pointing. photo PR

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