Weekly Review No.115
Inside this edition: City Rail Link testing gets underway, Hawke’s Bay launches new bus network and the Mainlander announces more trips for 2026.
Kia ora and welcome to the Weekly Review. NZ Transit Buzz is your transit news hub in 2026. We are on X, BlueSky and Instagram @NZTransitBuzz. Give us a follow wherever you are.
KiwiRail has shared a Wellington summer works wrap-up video, which showcases the works they have undertaken in the region.
In preparation for the CRL full network timetable testing, Auckland Transport set the station and platform screens across the network to the CRL timetables and line names.
The Big Gay Out will be running their Big Gay Buses for the 2026 event. Buses will depart from Karangahape Rd Stop #7134 and Britomart Stop #7016.
Dunedin City Council are undertaking work to revamp the public toilets at the Railway Station overbridge. The revamped toilet is specially designed to be fully accessible for those with complex care needs.
New Plymouth’s new bus routes have been released to mixed reviews. Some bus users said there was not enough difference between the old and new routes to make the whole exercise worthwhile.
Christchurch’s downtown is set for a splash of international attention this weekend and beyond, as a professional film crew arrives to shoot the BBC travel and history show Great New Zealand Railway Journeys.
The new open-top electric double-decker bus for use on the Auckland Explorer entered service on January 23. The bus has the fleet number 1194 and is a CRRC eD12Max.
Brougham Buses shared photos from their first day operating their new school contract, which has returned to them after 19 years. Brougham Buses are providing 8x daily return runs for Strathallan College.
The country’s most-struck rail bridge has claimed yet another victim, this time slicing the roof off a campervan driving beneath the low-clearance viaduct in Canterbury.
Two ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held in Hawke’s Bay on January 25 to launch the new Better Bus Routes. One was at the Dalton Street Bus Interchange in Napier, and the other was on Middle Road in Havelock North.
KiwiRail shared updates on the progress of Drury and Paerātā stations. Work related to the station footbridges and station access bridges is nearing completion, with the asphalting of the carparks and access roads all but complete. Road markings and station infrastructure installation are well underway. Wetland and landscaping are still ongoing.
Once the City Rail Link opens, the number of people able to reach Auckland’s central business district by public transport within 30 minutes will double, according to the latest council projections.
A handful of formerly Māngere-based GoBus units have been transferred to the Kinetic Swanson depot to displace the 2100’s (Bubble Buses). NZ Transit Buzz understands many of the 2100’s are likely to be transferred into GoBus use in other parts of the country on school runs.
Auckland Transport, City Rail Link and KiwiRail began to undertake the first full network test of the new CRL timetables and operating patterns. Trains did not run in passenger service on the 27th and 28th of January to allow the tests to take place.
The NZ Transit Buzz team were out on the tracks on Tuesday to observe the testing in action.
Community advocates are ramping up pressure on the Government to commit to a permanent passenger rail network connecting Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty, ahead of a key funding decision on the future of Te Huia.
Bus route changes in Hawke’s Bay have frustrated some parents, who say their children now face longer walks or multiple buses to get to school.
The Nelson City Council is warning pedestrians not to walk across the Millers Acre bus interchange because the busy area is a serious safety risk.
Public buses are now servicing Hawke’s Bay Airport six days a week, offering travellers another option to get to and from the airport.
Some Manawatū parents are trying to launch their own bus service to ensure their children can get to high school from rural areas where routes into Palmerston North have been cancelled.
Auckland Transport confirmed they had ‘small delays in getting 84 trains out of the depot and running across the network at once’ during Tuesday’s CRL timetable testing. AT did confirm there was nothing that had given them any major cause for concern at the moment.
Following a sold-out tour to Invercargill, The Mainlander has announced that further trips have now been added to the schedule.
Trips include:
North Canterbury Wine and Food Festival
Easter Weekend Tour
Rock and Hop Timaru
Auckland Transport has shared a drone flyover, photos and facts from the pedestrian-level crossing removal project at Glen Innes Station.
Over the summer rail upgrade period, crews completed piling works, foundations, completed the plinths that will support the new staircase columns, upgraded utility and drainage on the platform, and excavated earth to begin construction for the foundation of the new lift shaft.
FACTS:
Excavated 900m³ of material
Poured 75m³ of concrete for pile caps & 132m³ for piles
Used 400m³ of backfill
Used 18 tonnes of steel reinforcement
Around 40 new buses have arrived at the Port of Auckland for Ritchies South and West Auckland contracts. One of the buses that has arrived is a smaller single-door model, which will replace older buses on some loop routes.
Explainer - A series of unprovoked attacks on Auckland public transport - including a fatal stabbing last month - have raised concerns about the safety of riders and drivers in Aotearoa’s biggest city. What can people do if they’re worried about their own safety on public transport? Here’s what you need to know.
For more than 30 years, William “Bill” Town has been a familiar face on the steam train that roars into Napier for the annual Art Deco Festival. The 84-year-old volunteer has only missed one festival during that time, and has decided next month’s festival will be his last as a cart steward.
Entrada Travel Group and Tranzit announced that their open‑top, double‑decker electric sightseeing bus will be in full-time service from January 28. The bus has 508kW of CATL batteries that provide more than 330km of range.
Station works at Glen Innes continue with the footbridge column on the platform side nearing completion. The footbridge replaces existing pedestrian level crossings located at the North of P1 and the South of P2. This is a part of the wider Level Crossing Removal Program.
Via Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis: Darren was lucky enough to be on the inaugural Mainlander train from Christchurch to Invercargill. So what was it like?
Captain Rob, who operates the Tairua Ferry, has decided to retire and the ferry service will end immediately unless a new operator takes over. The ferry is currently listed on Trademe.
The Waitematā Station Plaza and eastern glasshouse entrance will open for the public from January 29, completing the City Rail Link’s first station neighbourhood in the city centre. Auckland Transport have also completed rewrapping the HOP machines into AT Shore Blue in preparation for service.
After being closed to passengers for over 30 days, the Auckland Rail Network reopened on Thursday morning. Takaanini and Te Mahia remain closed, with rail replacement buses operating due to a pending final sign-off to reopen the stations’ temporary access bridges.
Palmerston North Boys’ High School is investigating putting on a user-pays bus service for students in the Tokomaru and Shannon area to replace a Ministry of Education service that has ceased.
The Lumsden Heritage Trust & the Middlemarch Heritage Railway Charitable Trust recently salvaged parts from the non-recoverable A493 carriage. The parts will be used in the restoration of a heritage carriage at Middlemarch.
Kiwi Coaches is seeking expressions of interest in a daily school bus service to Avondale College & Intermediate for students living in Pt Chev, Westmere, Ponsonby & Grey Lynn. Kiwi Coaches need at least 30 students to make the route viable.
Steam Incorporated’s DC 4375 was recently put to work completing ballasting work for the Canterbury Railway Society.
People who have missed out on past Art Deco train experiences because of sell-out demand are getting their chance this year with lower-than-normal early sales ahead of the excursions next month.
BT Coachbuilders has been busy with work on repairing and refurbishing several vehicles from several operators. The team also completed a luxury coach. There is more work on the horizon with another 2 truck buses returning for work.
Auckland Transport has released details of what work they and KiwiRail will be completing during the Waitangi weekend rail closure.
Continue Works at Henderson Station to construct a third platform
Level Crossing removal works at Takaanini, Te Mahia and Glen Innes
Parnel Tunnel works
Rail track tampering and destressing work across the rail network
Rail Buses will operate on all lines at 20-minute frequencies all day and every 30 minutes in the evening.
Work on a Wairarapa rail upgrade worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars has been delayed by over a year. The work was expected to be completed late last year, but KiwiRail has confirmed to RNZ it now would not be finished until early 2027.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop has revealed that KiwiRail’s teams worked to reopen the rail line to Tauranga’s port within a day, so that rail freight could keep moving following recent severe storms and flooding.
Auckland’s rail network is one step closer to a modern, reliable metro system with the completion of the final large-scale pre-CRL works. After five years of week-long disruptions, rail work will increasingly be delivered in short, targeted closures.
Secret talks have been held over Stanley Bay Wharf ownership being transferred from Auckland Council to the Navy. Ferry services from Stanley Bay Wharf were cancelled in 2020.
Brougham Buses shared pictures from the first day of school at Wesley College. Brougham’s is supporting the school with bus services as it transitions from a Boarding School to a Day School.
Tranzit Group are preparing to welcome a fleet of new Intercity coaches into service across the North Island. The new coaches are Scania K450’s and were fitted out by Kiwi Bus Builders.
Great Journeys New Zealand is bringing the WOW factor back to the rails, with the return of its highly sought-after WOW Train VIP experience packages for 2026.
shared an update about changes to their school bus services in 2026.
Bus 100, there may be an additional run time. This is yet to be finalised.
Bus 13, from Monday, this bus will end at Waimauku General Store as it’s upgraded to a double-decker bus.
Bus 13 would no longer be able to serve the back roads due to height requirements owing to the upgrade to double-deckers.
The school advised parents to keep an eye out for updates, especially regarding the Bus 100 additional departure.
The Massey High School bus - Grassroots Trust.
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