Weekly Review No.31
This week, New HOP tag on/off posts are unveiled, Kinetic’s latest batch of electric buses arrive and KiwiRail repairs the rail bridge over the Rangitata River.
Keep yourself informed by following our Twitter/X for real-time transport news updates, if you’ve happened to miss anything from the past week, don't worry, we've got you covered – catch up with the Weekly Review below.
The Public Transport Users Association, Campaign for Better Transport and The Future Is Rail are hosting public meetings to garner support for their campaign to stop the Government from axing the Te Huia train.
Waikato District Council has shared photos of the Huntly Railway Station being lifted into position, now that the entire building is in place, work can commence on the internal fitout and the external refurbishment to be completed by June.
The Ministry of Education has decided to terminate one of the two school bus routes operating in Te Pōhue and amend the other after an audit, one bus had 10 eligible students and the other had four eligible students, there must be eight or more students who meet the ministry’s eligibility criteria to qualify for a school bus.
Schools were notified in November 2023 that school bus services would be amended with a start date of Term 2 this year, the new route will be from 496 Waitara Rd to the corner of McVicar Rd to Ohurakura Rd to Te Pohue School
An Auckland Transport spokesperson has confirmed to NZ Transit Buzz that 42 buses are due to arrive for Kinetic to be based at the New Lynn depot making this depot fully electric, the three-axle buses will enter service during May and June.
One of Te Huia’s services departed at 3:30pm from Otahuhu due to a track issue near Britomart, an Auckland Transport train connected from The Strand to Otahuhu before Te Huia continued on to Puhinui.
The points issue also impacted Waitematā (Britomart) Station with only one platform operating at the station which impacted all lines that use the station.
KiwiRail’s new Fairfield Freight Hub was officially opened on Friday at an event attended by Transport Minister Simeon Brown, Ashburton Mayor Neil Brown and senior managers from the Wareing Group and KiwiRail.
The town of Picton has been in limbo since the Government pulled the pin on KiwiRail's new interisland ferry project in December.
Wellington City Council crews have replanted some of the gardens outside Wellington Railway Station, the gardens were replanted with Rainbow Chards with a Parsley Edge.
KiwiRail (KR) has supplied an update on the Auckland-Northland line, to date KR have repaired 81 minor slips and 10 major slips, there is still at least 20 minor and 26 major slip sites still to be fixed to get the line back up and running.
While the line was down KR took the advantage to upgrade the line from Whangarei to Kauri to take heavier trains and completed various other works around the network.
On Friday last, Auckland rail went into meltdown yet again with service cuts and truncated services which were all preceded by a single signal failure in Britomart.
Singer and beatmaker Geneva AM was invited to try out the acoustics in the midst of Auckland's underground rail link to mark the start of upcoming NZ Music Month.
A man jailed for throwing a Molotov cocktail at former prime minister John Key's electorate office and setting fire to rugby club rooms has now admitted torching the historical Huntly Railway Building.
Works are progressing well on the new city-bound bus lane at Te Atatū, the adjoining T2 lane is closed until 28 April while crews work to join the new bus lane road surface to the existing onramp.
Metlink advised that buses will replace all Metlink train services on Anzac Day, 25 April, and the weekend that follows, 27-28 April, due to planned maintenance.
Trains will operate as usual on Friday 26 April on all lines except the Wairarapa Line, buses replace trains from 25-28 April on the Wairarapa Line.
The Wairarapa Line closure will enable KiwiRail to complete work on the pedestrian section of the Fitzherbert Street level crossing and continue work inside the 8.8km Remutaka tunnel.
Te Huia announced it would not be in service on ANZAC Day due to scheduled track maintenance taking place.
A new bus service (999) in and around Warkworth is on target to start by July, according to Auckland Transport.
The trial service would run every 30 minutes from 6am to 7.30pm, seven days a week, over the next two years, the 999 Warkworth Loop service will run one way around town in a clockwise direction, with each circuit taking 20 to 25 minutes, the $821,000 trial loop service is being funded by Rodney Local Board’s transport targeted rate
On Monday afternoon KiwiRail provided an update on repairs to the rail bridge over the Rangitata River in Canterbury, the four steel caissons that will form the temporary pier's supports have been driven into place by a 250-tonne crane.
It’s fair to say Don Selby has had a lifelong passion for railcars, It’s that passion that led to him becoming president of the Pahiatua Railcar Society, but after more than 30 years, he has decided to step down from his role.
City Rail Link has posted a comparison image of the area around Te Waihorotiu station from 1989 to the present day.
Rail in New Zealand looks to be following a dead-end track with no firm plans to replace the Cook Strait ferries, and a government preference for roads.
Auckland Transport wants to be ready to start work on a congestion charging system once enabling legislation passes, likely later this year or early next.
NZ hydrogen producer Halcyon has opened the country’s first fast refuelling station in Wiri, South Auckland, “We are pleased with the response that other leaders in hydrogen including Auckland Transport… have had”.
Climate activists Restore Passenger Rail are setting their sights on an unpopular target, and hoping to bring lots of the public with them.
City Rail Link has hosted the Minister of Transport Simeon Brown MP and Auckland Council Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson to get an updated look at the progress across the CRL construction sites.
Several of Kinetic's new electric buses have started to arrive at the Port of Auckland and are being transferred to Kinetic's New Lynn depot.
City Rail Link has shared a video of their crews installing the first glass panel for the feature skylight at Maungawhau Station, a mobile crane and glass suction equipment lifted the ten glass panels into place, CRL also shared a video of a hi-rail vehicle installing low-voltage sub-main cabling, across the project, crews pulled 52,000 metres of cable last week.
Children under 13 are currently entitled to free public transport across Aotearoa, and young people under 25 to half price fares. The government plans to scrap these discounts from the 1st of May, much to the dismay of kiwis doing it tough.
Taranaki Public Transport are reminding users about upcoming route changes to 12, 40 and SouthLink from May 1, some routes will see timetable and stop adjustments other routes will see increased services.
KiwiRail has shared a video of some of the work they are undertaking inside the 8.8km Remutaka Tunnel.
The Lloyd Ave/Mount Albert pedestrian level crossing removal appears to be planned for between the 6th to 21st June according to data on the Auckland Transport roadworks map.
Families across New Zealand are set to feel the pinch of the current cost of living crisis even more, with government subsidies for public transport set to end next week.
On Wednesday, KiwiRail provided another update on the works to repair the rail bridge over the Rangitata River, the spans are now being held up by the temporary support structure and work is underway replacing damaged rail on the bridge.
On ANZAC Day, we paused to honour the bravery and sacrifice of those who served and continue to serve.
The Taranaki Regional Council is inviting the public to share their ideas on how to make bus travel more attractive.
Two updated HOP tag on/off posts have been installed at Baldwin Ave Station, there is one new style post on each platform, the displays are full colour, feature the new Auckland Transport branding and the readers are slightly angled upward to make the screen easier to read.
Police are investigating a string of cash fare boxes stolen from buses in Wellington, Metlink said there had been four recent reports of robberies and thefts of fare boxes from bus drivers - all along the same route in the Hutt Valley.
An unprovoked attack on an Auckland bus driver earlier this week was "cruel", the union says, FIRST Union organiser for bus services Hayley Courtney told RNZ said some members have told the union they went to work worried that one day they would not come home.