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.…
66 Comments 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.…
Lower North Island Passenger Rail – a tragedy in two parts
This is a guest post by Darren Davis & Malcolm McCracken and originally appeared here.
It’s one month until Budget Day 2023. Read on to hear the critical need for rail investment in the Lower North Island.
This is a sad story of how we still ‘plan’ for growth in Aotearoa.…
The options considered for the Onehunga Line
What to do with the Onehunga Line after the City Rail Link opens has been a discussion for many years and at last Thursday’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee, Auckland Transport presented the council with their thinking along with giving a clearer indication of what their post-CRL operating plans are.…
Karangahape Done Right
The completion of the City Rail Link may be delayed, but when it does finally open, up to 40,000 people will flood out of the entrances to the Karanga-a-Hape station every day. Tens of thousands more are expected to arrive or pass through the area on buses, too.…
Reasons to be optimistic about Auckland Transport
Last week I had the chance to sit down with Auckland Transport’s new CEO, Dean Kimpton, and ask him some questions and I think there’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic for the future.
It was only Dean’s sixth day in the role so understandably he’s not going to be over all the details yet, but his understanding of the role – and many of the issues faced by both the organisation and the city – is invariably helped by his previous tenure as Auckland Council’s Chief Operating Officer, and more recently as the Chair of the Eastern Busway Alliance.…
Ridership reaches 80 per cent
Easter and the school holidays typically represents the end of March Madness, the period of time where travel demand across all modes is at it’s highest. It’s also been a quite while since we’ve really covered what’s happening with ridership so it’s time to look at it again
This year has been particularly challenging for public transport as we emerge from COVID with different travel patters, with a significant bus driver shortage, a ferry crew shortage and rail lines shut due to Kiwirail’s network rebuild programme.…
Construction for next stage of Eastern Busway starts
On Saturday, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Mayor Wayne Brown turned the sod to mark the start of construction on the next stage of the Eastern Busway.
This milestone means construction is underway for the significant transport project’s final stretch, from Pakuranga towards Botany.…
What to do about the Northern Busway
One of the big unknowns with any potential new harbour crossing is what to do about the Northern Busway. The first busway services first started in late 2005, before there was a busway, when the Albany and Constellation Stations opened and buses just used shoulder lanes to get to the city.…
Leaked emails reveal plan to turn light-rail into a road tunnel
The NZ Herald reports:
Leaked emails between senior officials at Auckland Light Rail, Waka Kotahi and Auckland Transport have revealed a surprising twist in the long-running saga of the Auckland Light Rail project.
A stack of emails between Auckland Light Rail and an unnamed senior official at Waka Kotahi, who appears to have been a close colleague for many years in his former role at Waka Kotahi, have been leaked to the NZ Herald.…
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