Weekly Review No.29
This week City Rail Link construction escalates at Beresford Square Metlink extends its OnDemand trial as Nelson wraps up its OnDemand service.
Before we jump into the week of Transport News, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge and mourn the recent closures and cancellations affecting the Newshub newsroom and various shows within the TVNZ stable.
These platforms have been vital sources for NZ Transit Buzz, enabling us to deliver a wide range of transport news to our audience. The loss of these institutions not only hampers our ability to share relevant stories but also represents a significant setback for New Zealanders seeking comprehensive news coverage.
Having been fortunate enough to work at Newshub, I'm thankful for the chance the news team gave me to delve into writing about transport, both on the Newshub website and on air. These newsrooms are hubs of dedicated individuals committed to amplifying the voices of New Zealanders through great storytelling.
My thoughts are with all those who have been impacted by the recent developments, particularly those who have lost their jobs. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed.
Let us catch the Weekly Review, jump onboard and look back at the week in Transport News, keep yourself up to date by following our Twitter/X for real-time transport news.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has announced there will be a temporary T2 lane closure on SH16 Te Atatū Eastbound onramp between 15 - 28 April, the closure of the T2 lane is to support the construction of a new bus-only lane.
A 100-person group representing a cross-section of Auckland has sent a message to the city council on how the region should solve its transport problems.
The government's transport plan is at odds with economic growth and a step backwards for the climate, a group of 88 academics says.
A video of children jumping off a Waikato rail bridge just seconds before a freight train passes has been circulating social media, community leaders and KiwiRail have spent years trying to find a solution, but the issue continues to persist
Auckland Transport should prioritise active and public transport services instead of charging Aucklanders for time of road use, according to some councillors.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will not commit to replacing the ageing Interislander fleet by 2026, which is when the now-cancelled mega ferries were due to arrive.
Metlink has extended its Metlink On Demand trial until the end of 2024, the trial, which is operated by Metlink with support from Mana/Newlands Coach Services, is being extended at a cost of about $750,000.
Greater Wellington Transport Committee chair Thomas Nash said “The extension will give us time to seek funding from the National Land Transport Fund to support the potential continuation of the service, and also gives us 12 months of data from the expansion to central Porirua."
KiwiRail has shared a selection of photos of works that occurred over the Easter weekend on the Auckland and Wellington metro networks, in Auckland, crews replaced track foundations at Morningside and a number of other sites, in Wellington, crews replaced 300 metres of track inside the Remutaka Tunnel and made significant progress on the Wellington Station re-signalling works.
Cambridge (20) and Te Awamutu (24) services are preparing to go electric on 15 April with six new EV buses which replace the existing diesel buses
The new fleet sees an expanded and more frequent timetable Cambridge services increase from 8 to 20 return trips, Te Awamutu sees an increase from 9 to 19 services, on weekends, both services increase from four to 13 return trips a day.
The new buses can carry 75 passengers (37 seated and 38 standing), and diesel-fuelled ‘assist’ buses will remain on hand if needed. double-decker electric buses are expected later this year to boost capacity at peak times.
The public will be able to see the buses before they enter service on 13 April in Cambridge 10-11.30 am at the Victoria St bus stop, and in Te Awamutu 1.30-3 pm at 1 Gorst Ave bus stop.
City Rail Link has shared an update on how the backfilling of the Maungawhau Station portal is progressing, the image shows backfilling has almost reached the Flower Street intersection level.
Rural Women NZ has urged bus companies to follow the lead of Ritchies Transport, and install extra mirrors on all buses, the company added more mirrors to its vehicles following the 2012 death of a five-year-old West Coast boy.
Greater Wellington chairperson Daran Ponter is daydreaming about bulldozers and TNT. He would like to see the Melling Station, which is full of asbestos, demolished.
Wellingtonians were warned to plan ahead if they were travelling on Monday between 9.30 am and 3 pm when bus and rail staff attended their respective union meetings.
KiwiRail is developing a “lubrication strategy” across the Auckland rail network as it fields complaints from Remuera residents about screeching trains crossing Hobson Bay and Ōrākei Basin.
Freight trains began operation at the Fairfield Freight Hub, road users can expect disruptions at the Fairfield Road level crossing in Ashburton for up to 10 minutes between 9.30 am and 10:30 am and between 8:45 pm - 9:30 pm and 1:30 am - 2:15 am, these disruptions will continue until October when upgraded signals come into operation.
Tauranga City Council are planning upgrades to the Arataki Bus Hub on Farm Street, featuring more shelter, more shade, and safer streets, Farm Street is home to the second busiest bus hub in Tauranga with over 50,000 passengers a month.
Stage one is set to start in June replacing existing Farm Street shelters with new high-capacity shelters along each side of the road, subject to funding, wider accessibility improvements and placemaking between Girven Road and Concord Avenue will follow in Stage 2.
The government’s releasing its policy statements that guide priorities and funding into the future, but one in particular has met with angry feedback.
Mainline Steam Heritage Trust once again has access to their Plimmerton yard following nearby KiwiRail works, volunteers took advantage of the weather to to tidy the yard and push unneeded rolling stock to other parts of the yard.
The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission delivered scathing advice about the now cancelled Auckland light rail project, suggesting decision-makers had succumbed to confirmation bias and produced an overly optimistic analysis of the favoured tunnelled option.
Closing Featherston’s Fox St rail crossing to traffic would “impede” emergency services response times and “lives will be lost”, South Wairarapa District Council has heard.
Otago Regional Councillors are proposing a significant focus on large-scale environmental project funding, public transport, and some changes to how rates are calculated.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials advised the Government on the risk to New Zealand’s relationship with Korea if KiwiRail’s $551 million mega ferry contract was cancelled.
The end can’t come quickly enough for businesses in Auckland’s Albert Street following years of construction for the City Rail Link.
The punctuality of Wairarapa’s train network continues to be deemed “unsatisfactory” with only 5.8 per cent of trains arriving at key stations & their final destination within 5 minutes of schedule in February.
18 community transport providers across Waikato gained a share of $209,500 from the latest round of the Waikato Regional Council Community Transport Grant fund, the fund supports community organisations that help Waikato residents with transport needs which aren’t met by the public transport network, generally in rural and remote areas or where specialised support is needed.
4H Community Trust Board
Cambridge Community House Trust
Coromandel Community Services Trust
Coromandel Independent Living Trust
Friends of Morrinsville Community Charitable Trust
Matamata Community Health Shuttle Trust
Ngā Watene Māori O Te Rohe Potae Regional Association
North Waikato Transport Trust
Paeroa Community Support Trust
Raglan District Community Vehicle Trust
Tairua Care and Friendship Club
Te Aroha Community Support Inc
Te Awamutu Community Health Transport Trust
The Ngāti Maniapoto Marae Pact Trust
The Order of St John Central Region Trust Board
The Order of St John Northern Region Trust Board
The Te Kauwhata & Districts Information & Support Centre
Waikato/Bay of Plenty Division Cancer Society of New Zealand
City Rail link to temporarily close sections of Mercury Lane to allow Link Alliance, to dig a 150-metre-long and 1.2-metre-wide trench that will be used by electricity suppliers to safeguard the neighbourhood’s future power supplies, CRL will also be installing pipework to connect the station to the local Watercare network during the same work window.
Stage one begins 15 April, Stage two 20 – 21 April plus other weekend closures to be confirmed and Stage three dates TBC.
City Rail Link crews have finished the installation of the escalators in the Beresford Square entrance that will take commuters from street level (L0) to the concourse level (B2), 15 segments form the three escalators.
Meridian Energy is hosting a Q&A over on Facebook about its electric Hydro-foiling ferry, Meridian GM of Generation, Tania Palmer with help from an expert team is answering the questions posted to Facebook on Friday.
Waka Kotahi NZTA Canterbury & West Coast & Ashburton District Council has issued a reminder about where motorists need to stop at the upgraded SH1/Archibald Street/Lagmhor Road/Agnes Street intersection & level crossing.
Transdev has decreased its number of major and minor bus collisions after forming a special task force to make bus travel safer for customers and staff.
Glasgow Street in Huntly closed from 5 am to 8 am on 11 April as contractors worked to lift the fire-damaged half of the Huntly railway station building onto its permanent foundations.
The chairperson of Greater Wellington Regional Council says it feels like they are being "excluded" from information continuously sought from KiwiRail relating to its ageing rail network.
Auckland Transport (AT) is extending the 989 bus route from 14 April, the route extension will serve four new bus stops on Argent Lane, two near Ahutoetoe School and two near Emma Lane, AT says the route extension is minor, so there will be no changes to the timetable.
AT says they will continue to extend the 989 bus route as various construction projects in Milldale are completed.
New stop IDs:
Stop 4880 - Ahutoetoe School
Stop 4881 - Ahutoetoe School
Stop 4888 - Emma Lane
Stop 4895 - Emma Lane
Nelson City Council has made the decision to bring the Stoke OnDemand service to an end after patronage fell to financially unsustainable levels seeing only 12 journeys per week, the onDemand service will end on 30 April.
Nelson City Council is also permanently retiring Toi Toi Street from Route 3, the bus route was diverted from Jenner Road on 30 September 2023 following damage to the road, a replacement route was designed to run on Toi Toi Street and started on 12 February 2024, a fortnight later, an eBus hit the kerb while going through the roundabout at Toi Toi Street and Abraham Heights and NCC revised its view of the risk on this street.
Route 3 will continue to use St Vincent Street, effective immediately.
The scheduled temporary closure of the Melling Line, initially planned for July 2024, has been postponed. The new closure is now slated to commence in late 2024 or possibly in 2025, pending confirmation of project delivery timelines.
Ahead of an event to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Wellington to Lower Hutt railway line Steam Incorporated has announced what trains & carriages are going to be onsite, DA1410, AA1769 & Lounge Car AA1783 will be on display at Wellington's Platform 9 from 11 am to 3 pm.
On The ‘Working Group’ podcast, former Labour Minister and current Union negotiator Michael Wood told the show that the cost of breaking the contract with the Cook Strait Ferry deal would be $200 million.
Members of the ministerial advisory group looking into the future of KiwiRail’s Cook Strait ferry service have been paid more than $80,000 between them since being appointed just two months ago, the Herald can reveal.
Metro Canterbury continues to see an uptick in patronage since the beginning of a flat fare trial in July 2023, February 2024 patronage is 32% above February 2023 levels and patronage for the year to date is tracking at 6.4% above pre-COVID levels.
City Rail Link shared a progress update on the Victoria Street entrance to Te Waihorotiu Station.
Bhavrisha from Hillcrest High School has taken out the People's Choice Award for Busit's tote bag design competition, Bhavrisha won a $100 Torpedo7 voucher, $25 Bee Card and a selection of goodies from BUSIT and Hamilton City Council.