Weekly Review No.30
It's a bus bonanza this week, Tranzit Group wins the WX1 contract, Cambridge and Te Awamutu get new buses and timetables and Timaru’s on-demand MyWay extends its late-night hours trial.
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Ahead of the launch of (20) Cambridge and (24) Te Awamutu services new timetables went live on the BUSIT website.
It’s all aboard the eBus as far as local dogs are concerned, with dogs of any size now allowed to jump on a bus as long as they are muzzled and on a leash.
Auckland Transport says electric ferry charging infrastructure is expected to be installed at Half Moon Bay this year, one charger with two plugs will be installed on the floating pontoon at the Half Moon Bay ferry terminal.
The southern railway line will reopen early next year, before that happens KiwiRail is keen to spread its safety messages, especially when 25,000 volts will power the new trains.
A new shipment of battery electric buses is bound for New Zealand from bus builder Geely Bus, we don’t yet have any details on who the buses are for or which routes they will run on but from the pictures supplied by Geely Bus, the buses appear in an Auckland Transport bus base colour.
KiwiRail has released a video on its YouTube channel where its customers talk about the benefits of using KiwiRail and the benefits of rail transport in general.
On Friday, news broke that the rail bridge over the Rangitata River in South Canterbury was damaged and subsequently closed after high floodwaters washed away a pier under the bridge.
Train movements in the area were stopped after the issue was discovered and the recently opened Fairfield Freight Hub near Ashburton is being used to keep rail freight moving between Invercargill and Christchurch, Geoff Mackley also captured drone footage of the storm-damaged bridge.
The six new EV buses for Cambridge and Te Awamutu were officially welcomed into the Transit fleet and by the Waipā District Council on Friday.
A key rail connection being severed by a washed away pier is "another warning shot" investment is needed in South Island infrastructure, Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown says.
A new chapter could be written in Whanganui’s public transport history but community support is needed to get it started.
The fire-damaged half of the Huntly Railway Station has been moved onto permanent pilings, further work is still required to construct decks around the building and finish the space up for the Huntly Museum to move in.
One of the government's upcoming changes is causing a stir among young commuters, the public transport subsidy will end on 30 April, meaning 16-24-year-olds will no longer be paying half price, RNZ’s First Up visited several bus stops in central Auckland to see what young people thought.
At the Drury Station construction site, piling work for the station lifts and stairs has been poured, a section of platform edges have also been installed and at a nearby laydown site the remaining platform edges for all 3 new stations are stacked and waiting to be installed.
An updated version of Auckland Transport's brand guidelines has been uploaded to the AT website, the documents feature an updated HOP card design, a new livery for electric buses, a new livery for electric trains & updated ferry livery.
Metro Canterbury has established a new team, focused on customer support and safety, the team will also provide additional support with directing people to the correct buses and stops.
Crews at Maungawhau Station are installing the ceiling underneath the Ruru Lane bridge, soon crews will install the flashing, which is sheets of aluminium that will sit within the vertical cladding and will serve as a final layer of protection.
City Rail Link also shared progress photos of the Beresford Square entrance to Karanga-a-Hape Station.
The Nelson Tasman Community Transport Trust will have a Tapawera bus service up & running this week and has plans for a Hira service down the track, the Tapawera to Richmond bus will run on Tuesdays & the Tapawera to Motueka bus on Wednesdays, at a cost of $6 each way, the bus is limited to five seats each trip and leaves at 9.30am each day, returning to Tapawera by 3pm.
Auckland Transport has ended the Western Line Rail Bus that had been operating during the morning peak between New Lynn and Newmarket, AT says other routes on the 18 and 22N/R services are available.
Auckland Airport is putting in a new buggy service to help disabled passengers following complaints about its new transport hub, it is also fine-tuning arrangements for commercial vehicle operators.
The 150th anniversary of a crucial railway line was celebrated in classic style on Sunday, families and fans turned out to Wellington Railway Station to see first-hand classic locomotives and passenger carriages parked at the station.
KiwiRail has also shared photos from the celebrations on Sunday.
When asked how people would rate the quality of transport available for Gisborne nightlife, most participants answered on average a 3.5 out of 10.
Work on the third main and Middlemore’s new platform is progressing well, the majority of the piling for the station structures have been cast, new signage has gone up around the station with updated renders showing some of the future artworks.
The area where the future tracks will be built has platform edging and the retaining wall in place in a short section and crews continue to work on constructing the base for the new track and building new retaining walls.
City Rail Link’s chief executive says its engineers have found no evidence that tunnelling beneath the Mercury Theatre caused cracks in the building’s façade.
KiwiRail has recently replaced the Otago bridge, south of Palmerston which passes over Pleasant River and Brooklands Road, the replacement bridge is a ballast bridge span design and is a part of the Rail Network Investment Programme.
Auckland Transport is starting work on the Triangle Road bus lane between the Lincoln Road Intersection to the Huruhuru Creek bridge, works begin on April 22 and will run for 6 months AT is also rebuilding the road during these works.
Christchurch Metro buses will now have “support officers” on board, but the bus drivers’ union is not convinced it will combat the daily abuse its members receive.
Patronage data for the interim North-Western busway has been released for February 2024, Te Atatū Bus Interchange is the busiest of the three West Auckland bus interchanges seeing a weekday average of 1061 transfers across February.
Environment Canterbury has a GETS request for a Public Transport Scheduling Solution, aiming to implement a system that generates GTFS files compatible with the current Real-Time Information system and the upcoming NTS, with the aim of being able to launch by October 2024.
The Nelson eBus service has had a record-breaking March seeing 91,687 journeys, eBus patronage in January, February and March is more than double the same months in 2023 for the former NBus service.
The shelters and platforms at Pukekohe station have had their seats, glazing, and Auckland Transport branding installed, the station overbridge is temporarily narrowed while crews remove the old steel safety panelling before it is replaced with full-height safety panelling and the staff quarters and stabling yard are getting closer to being completed, the driveway and stabling access paths have been paved.
On ANZAC Day, bus, train and rail replacement bus travel in Auckland is free all day to Veterans SuperGold, SuperGold, RSA Membership Card holders and uniformed military personnel Auckland Transport has announced.
A Botswana local living in Ūawa has suggested the district council operate a locally-led bus service along the East Coast, under his idea, buses would be set up to be community-run, creating jobs and bringing tourism to the coast.
A trial of longer hours for Timaru’s on-demand MyWay public transport service on Fridays and Saturdays has been extended until the end of June, so far, about 800 rides have been completed on the later night service.
Work above ground at the Beresford Square entrance to Karanga-a-Hape Station is progressing well, glazing has been installed on the ventilation/retail space behind the main entrance to the station, and waterproofing is well underway on the station plaza, at the Mercury Lane entrance to Karanga-a-Hape Station much of the stations work continues underground, above ground the station superstructure remains covered in scaffolding.
City Rail Link crews have been training KiwiRail technicians to show them how to maintain the overhead line equipment (OHLE), while the OHLE is similar to the system installed at Waitematā Station (Britomart) – it does differ slightly.
As well as classroom learning, the technicians got up onto an elevated work platform to have a go at removing and installing sections and adjusting its components inside the CRL tunnels.
The Ministry of Education has spent $1.38b between 2018 to 2023 on student transport contracts with 28 operators, many of the largest running for 12 years up to 2033.
Government subsidies for age-based public transport fares end on 30 April but Waikato Regional Council will maintain current fares until 30 June, fares for BUSIT and Te Huia services will instead increase by 20 per cent on 1 July.
Government moves to increase school attendance levels will be seriously undermined by its decision to scrap bus subsidies, a New Plymouth MP says.
Nelson’s new eBus service is more than $1m over budget.
Overspends included:
Staff movements early in the project
Budgets being set in 2021 not being enough
Funding overflow buses to meet the level of demand (about $10,000 a month)
Increased costs from route variations ($54,000)
Higher than anticipated wages for bus drivers and diesel bills for the 20% of the fleet that was still diesel buses
The contract was unclear about who would cover the cost of the livery for the new fleet of buses, so it fell to the councils: $55,000
Installation of WiFi on buses was not budgeted for: $27,000
Promotion of the new service and changes that had occurred cost more than expected: $56,000
Extra cost to clean and provide security at new bus shelters and the interim Bridge St hub: $18,000
Licensee agreements and equipment for the Stoke On Demand service were unbudgeted. The service has now been cancelled: $63,000
Ongoing costs associated with the bus stop at Nelson Regional Airport were not anticipated: $13,000
A Tauranga landlord says he is “bleeding money” and unable to lease his CBD building because of the bus stop outside.
Next-stop information screens are now live onboard select Metro Canterbury buses and plans are in place to introduce screens on more of the fleet, as Metro introduces more electric buses later in the year.
Over the weekend Hamilton Model Railroaders Club held a model railway exhibition, the club has held its exhibition for more than 40 years & this year’s event attracted more than 1400 train enthusiasts - its biggest ever turnout.
The Marlborough District Council plans to trial a Saturday bus between Picton and Blenheim, in part because of Blenheim’s new library, the Saturday trial period would run for 12 months, with the start date yet to be confirmed.
The Palmerston North Mobile Library is back in action following maintenance, the Mobile Library timetable can be found here.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has shared a drone flyover of the works for Te Ara Tupua, the new path will run alongside the Wairarapa line from Petone before crossing over the train line on a bridge near Ngā Ūranga (Ngauranga).
Auckland Transport has announced that West Auckland’s flagship bus service, the WX1, will be run by fully electric double-decker buses from next April under a new $166 million contract signed between Auckland Transport and bus operator Tranzit Group.
KiwiRail (KR) has provided an update on repairs to the rail bridge over the Rangitata River in Canterbury, KR has begun building the temporary supports that will allow the bridge to re-open.
A 250-tonne crane is on-site and will be used to drive steel caissons into the riverbed from tomorrow, these will form part of the temporary support for the bridge, at this stage, KR expects to have the bridge reopened to trains towards the end of next week, KR will then begin work on the permanent replacement of the pier.
KR is also undertaking work to find the missing pier, which could be buried in the river downstream.