Weekly Review No.26
This week KiwiRail releases new photos of the new DM class locomotives, Auckland Transport unveils its first electric double decker bus and Pukekohe to Papakura reopening is pushed back.
Keep yourself informed by following our Twitter/X for real-time transport news updates, if you happen to miss anything from the past week, don't worry, we've got you covered – catch up with the Weekly Review below.
Via The New Zealand Herald: KiwiRail says it needs a further $150 million to finish the rail network rebuild in Auckland – taking the cost of the project to $550m.
Via Newsroom: KiwiRail promises to be more proactive and less reactive as the new dawn of rail in Auckland approaches.
As part of Auckland Transport’s upgrade of Apirana Avenue a new station beacon was installed at Glen Innes Station.
City Rail Link performed a walkthrough with senior representatives from Fire and Emergency New Zealand & The New Zealand Police at the developing stations and inside underground tunnels, discussions included fire incident responses, tunnel transponders, and cross-passage safety features.
The deadline for submitting input on the Regional Land Transport Plans has been extended by the Otago Regional Council until 5 pm on April 19th.
Transport is one of the biggest challenges for newcomers to Hurunui, according to a new survey from Hurunui District Council's Welcoming Communities survey.
Work got underway to relocate two shelters and two seats on the Rotokauri Station platform, works are expected to take up to five days and will involve a large crane on site to lift equipment and materials over the tracks onto the platform.
In its first year, Metlink’s Airport Express saw 364,191 trips, now in its second year, over 320,000 trips have been recorded, with forecast figures for April and May expected to reach 36,000 each month.
Patronage is on track to exceed the 2023 total within just 10 months according to
Greater Wellington, Patronage during the peak travel period of school holidays (December – February) has averaged over 35,000 each month for the last two years in a row.
To celebrate Te Huia's 3rd birthday, they are doing a week of giveaways between April 2 - 6, to enter follow @tehuiatrain on Instagram, tag a friend and comment on which prize pack you’d like to win on the giveaway post when it goes live.
A bridge replacement bus was in operation on March 16 and March 17 due to the Wynyard Crossing Bridge being closed, the free shuttle bus operated between Halsey Street and Customs Street running every 15 minutes between 10 am - 6 pm.
Wellington Cable Car lit up their tunnel in a rainbow for Pride.
Our sister publication published its second post in the Every Auckland Station journey, taking to the Eastern Line and visiting Panmure Station.
PayWalled via Wairarapa Times-Age: Multiple investments into KiwiRail’s work on the Wairarapa Line’s infrastructure means that – once the seven-year project is complete – about $375 million would have been spent, equating to just over $4.4 million a month.
By Oliver Lewis PayWalled via BusinessDesk: A prime central Christchurch site worth at least $17 million is being used to store buses, although other options have been explored.
Tairua Bus Company (TBC) has confirmed they are running their service to Auckland and back from various points within the Coromandel, passengers must book 24 hours ahead (as TBC won’t run if they have no bookings)
The National Ticketing Solution is on track for delivery, with implementation to start in Canterbury in late 2024 according to an update from New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, the update says NZTA are finalising the rollout plan in Canterbury and they expect to confirm this plan by June.
Tauranga City Council commissioners approved the locations of several bus stops to serve more parts of Tauranga city centre, they resolved that Dive Crescent will eventually become an important bus area with up to six individual bus stop bays.
The middle part of town would be served by four individual bus stop bays on Willow, Harington and Hamilton streets, as well as two bus stops near Baycourt.
Via The Post: One of Wellington’s major bus companies is threatening to turn its security cameras on its own drivers after some turned down “drip torture“ speakers, a leaked email from Kinetic Wellington general operations manager Ken Pearson to the Tramways Union said drivers were tampering with the amplifiers on the on-board announcement system.
Via VOXY: The Hawke’s Bay Regional Transport Committee has approved the draft Regional Land Transport Plan (RLTP) which is now open for public consultation from March 18 to April 14.
By Amy Williams via Radio New Zealand: Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's bluff has been called - he had no authority to tell Auckland Transport to immediately stop work on projects funded by the soon-to-be scrapped regional fuel tax.
Via Radio New Zealand: Unstable land under the Wairarapa line could have ‘catastrophic’ consequences for the tracks, according to documents released to RNZ under the Official Information Act, modelling showed the land under the line 1.4km north of the Remutaka tunnel has a medium to high risk of a slip occurring.
A free trial 'tram' will be is in operation between 9 am-5 pm on Thursday/Friday/Saturday in Palmerston North, the 'tram' is operated by the Manawatū Tram Trust in partnership with Manawatū Business Chamber.
In the near future, the Trust is looking at privately funding a tram, that doesn’t need tracks, is fully electric and takes into account heritage features.
Via The Press: Cantabrians are asking for more frequent public transport options, and want passenger rail to be considered in future plans.
Via Sun Live: Plans for bus ‘super stops’ in Tauranga are opposed by landowners and developers, causing the council to defer its decision, Tauranga City Council had proposed two new 90m bus stops on either side of Durham St south, at the Elizabeth St end.
Faster buses could be the outcome of closer collaboration on bus priority corridors proposed by Greater Wellington, the public transport authority, to Wellington City Council, the road controlling authority.
By Connor Sharp for Surface Light Rail for Auckland via Greater Auckland: Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think.
In big news, Auckland Transport invited NZ Transit Buzz along to the launch of Auckland’s first electric double decker bus, the bus was unveiled at a media event on Tuesday afternoon after which Mayor Wayne Brown and other dignitaries took the bus for a spin around the depot.
The introduction of the electric double decker bus takes Auckland’s zero-emission bus fleet to 138, this is the largest number for a New Zealand city and in the top two for the whole of Australasia. We have more on the electric double decker later in the Weekly Review.
Just around the corner from Kinetic’s Māngere depot, three of the six new electric buses for Cambridge & Te Awamutu are at the Pacific Tourways depot undergoing testing before entering service on April 15.
The final glass panels have been installed at the Victoria Street entrance to Te Waihorotiu Station, the 42 large format glass panels have a temporary matte coating on them to protect them from dirt while construction continues nearby.
Surface Light Rail for Auckland has begun an advertising campaign on the Locky Dock network, the campaign is designed to showcase their new network map and encourage people to visit their website.
It was a rough start for train users on Auckland’s Western line with multiple disruptions within a span of two hours, users could only travel between Swanson and Newmarket and had to transfer to another train service at Newmarket to get to Britomart.
We took a look inside the CRRC eD12max Double Deck Electric Bus, Auckland’s first electric double decker bus in a special post here on Substack.
With the scaffolding now removed at the Beresford Square entrance to Karanga-a-Hape station the entrance fit-out can begin.
PayWalled via The New Zealand Herald: Cook Strait independent ferry operator StraitNZ is calling for “a really upfront conversation” about who is going to pay for a proposed multi-user terminal.
Fullers360 will make its annual transition to off-peak timetables for Waiheke Island ferry services on 2 April, after the Easter long weekend.
Mayor Wayne Brown has started an ad campaign to encourage Aucklanders to submit on Auckland Council's Long-Term Plan, the ad highlights Mayor Brown’s want to improve Auckland's public transport system.
Auckland Transport provided an update on its project to remove seven rail crossings around the rail network, as part of making the network safer ahead of City Rail Link.
Two crossings, Corban Estate in Henderson and Tironui Station Rd East, Takaanini, closed in February 2024.
AT is preparing to start work on improving the alternative route for Lloyd Avenue in Mount Albert, prior to removing the level crossing.
AT is still assessing the community feedback received for the O’Neills Road & Homai crossing.
AT is engaging further with the business association and local businesses on the final plans to improve the alternative route and the timing of a closure of the crossing at Kingdon Street in Newmarket.
Route 40 Kings/Queens (Bathgate Park) to Green Island will depart from behind Kings High School/Queens High School from MacAndrew Road to allow the bus to get to Green Island faster from March 26 until May 26.
By Oliver Lewis paywalled via BusinessDesk: The Ministry of Transport is considering the possibility of KiwiRail exiting the Cook Strait ferry market entirely following the collapse of its multi-billion-dollar Interislander replacement project.
KiwiRail has released a few more images of their new DM class locomotives which are currently under construction with Swiss rail manufacturer Stadler.
Via The New Zealand Herald: The first train is due to run on Auckland’s City Rail Link before the end of the year, but before passengers get to ride on the country’s first underground rail line, more than 1200 test trips by train have to be completed.
Paywalled via The Post: When the MV Straitsman sailed away from New Zealand shores in the latter half of 2023, it was renamed and ready to start its new job as the lifeline between the Channel Islands and Great Britain.
Via Scoop for The Rail Advocacy Collective: The government's agenda to swiftly dismantle the New Zealand rail system is evident in the current Transport Government Position Statement (GPS).
Safety alerts for workers in the rail corridor, for owners and operators of trains and heavy vehicles at level crossings, and for recreational boaties are all new in the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Watchlist 2024.
80 distinctive blue panels have now been fitted onto the upper levels of CRL’s Maungawhau Station, the panels form the sky element facade of the station, the feature was designed by iwi artist Tessa Harris and is one of four separate elements that tell the design kōrero (of each of the CRL station buildings.)
Crews from Link Alliance used a crane and elevated working platforms to lift the 80 panels into place, piecing them together like a puzzle. Each panel varies in size and weight, ranging from 2250cm – 307cm in width, 2.5m – 3m in height, and 40kg – 90kg in weight.
KiwiRail has broken its silence on the reopening of the track between Papakura and Pukekohe and announced they will carry out the full upgrade and renewal work on the track while it is still closed for other improvement work.
Pukekohe to Papakura was expected to open to commuter trains by the end of 2024 and will now remain closed for a short while longer, until after the annual Christmas network-wide closure, and reopen around mid-January 2025.
Via 1 News: Improved public transport and higher-density housing are hoped to support the Greater Christchurch area as the population grows.
Mayor Wayne Brown welcomes Government support for key parts of the Auckland Deal, the announcements include the government’s commitment to give Auckland’s elected representative control over the Regional Land Transport Plan.
A statue of Jean Batten has returned to a new location after being moved from its place in front of the Auckland Airport International arrivals building in November 2022 to make way for the construction of the new Transport Hub.
Interislander celebrates its best February on record which saw Interislander passenger vehicle numbers bounce back to pre-Covid levels, Interislander ferries carried more than 30,000 private cars and campervans across the Cook Strait in February.
From December to February, Interislander ferries operated with 99.6 per cent asset reliability and 91.5 per cent on-time performance.
The Otago Regional Council has voted to continue funding free fares for children aged 5 – 12 when the government withdraws funding for subsidized fares on 30 April.
Geoff Mackley has uploaded some fantastic footage of the RM31 Railcar excursion to Arthurs Pass.