Weekly Review No.129
Inside this artful edition: KiwiRail unveils new murals in Wellington, Papakura and Palmerston North, plus ‘Fire Sale’ burnt out bus goes up for auction.
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MPs had no luck pinning City Rail Link bosses down to an opening date when they appeared before a Parliamentary select committee this week.
The station advertising signs across the Auckland rail and bus network have had their stickers updated from MediaWorks to QMS. The main stickers on the front of the sign and fault reporting stickers on the side were updated following an ownership change.
Sustainable Taranaki recently hosted a trash cleanup in the rail corridor in New Plymouth. 20 volunteers and the local KiwiRail staff collected over 1,600 litres of rubbish in under two hours.
From May 11, the Comet will begin and end at the Glenview Hub. Because of these route changes, the Comet timetable will also be updated, with changes to some times. Service frequency stays the same, every 15 minutes on weekdays, and every 30–40 minutes at other times, including weekends and public holidays.
Greater Wellington has released the Request for Tender for the first tranche of future Metlink bus service contracts via the Government Electronic Tender Service. The Request for Tender is a process where potential operators set out their bids for the delivery of Metlink services.
The Tranche One Request for Tender seeks ‘experienced and innovative’ operators to tender for the delivery of public transport passenger bus services across two key units – Unit 22: North-South, and Unit 23: Porirua-Tawa. This includes the development of a potential new depot on a greenfield site.
The contract award is expected to be in December 2026; delivery of bus services is expected to commence in July 2028.
The Maritime Union of New Zealand has released a new report on national fuel security, revealing that shifting long-distance freight from road to coastal shipping and rail would help insulate NZ from fuel supply disruptions.
The $5.5 billion City Rail Link (CRL) appears on track to open to the public in the second half of this year, with a more detailed start window expected in the coming weeks, Auckland Transport’s interim chief executive says.
A decade of warnings have not been enough to fix New Zealand’s most dangerous level crossing, and now Gore District mayor Ben Bell is warning that any future accidents at the notorious site will be on the hands of NZTA and KiwiRail.
Transport officials weighed up the Government’s stance on te reo when deciding against Māori language names for Auckland’s new City Rail Link train lines.
Documents obtained by 1News reveal the naming — finalised mid-last year — stretched across three years and five different approaches before narrowing to an eventual showdown between te reo bird names and directional labels.
Goldfields Railway have advised that they are still undertaking maintenance and trains are not yet taking passengers. Locomotives are on track, performing trial runs & training trips with their volunteer crew.
By Shaun Baker via Multimodal Adventures: On Saturday, alongside two fellow multimodal explorers, I took the Kaimai Express to do some exploring around Tauranga. The Kaimai Express ran from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to Tauranga via Kirikiriroa Hamilton, connecting the Golden Triangle by rail. It previously operated a daily passenger train, which ceased rail service in 2001.
A critical government review slapped a high-risk “amber” warning on the Cook Strait ferry replacement programme, finding “back-to-front” planning & decaying port infrastructure have left the project exposed to delays and higher costs.
A reliable “day one” City Rail Link timetable is taking shape after a new network configuration was tested in April. The three-day test of what Auckland Transport (AT) calls a temporary timetable has produced better outcomes than a January “stress testing”, which demonstrated that obtaining higher-frequency peak services across the whole network would be difficult when the inner-city rail route opens.
KiwiRail has shared a video of Joe Mcmenamin who has been painting murals around the Wellington Metro network. Joe recently painted a collection of native birds on a signal hut in Alicetown.
Time is running out for people parking in operational bus lanes on busy Cranford St. From the end of July, Christchurch City Council will start enforcing rules it has turned a blind eye to since the bus lanes were introduced in 2021.
Via Greater Auckland: What to name the various parts of Auckland’s rapidly evolving transit scene has been a recent topic of discussion.
Indian crew members on board the ship Vega have raised concerns about when they can return home, as they wait for permission to sail to India, where it will be dismantled.
The latter stages of 2025 saw New Zealand family business Tranzit Group celebrate its 100th anniversary and ongoing innovation. The Australian Bus & Coach magazine took a look inside Tranzit Group’s special centenary celebrations.
Weka Pass Railway has cleared a number of trees from alongside the rail corridor as part of their site maintenance. The trees had to be removed to maintain safe access along the rail corridor.
Canterbury Railway Society has welcomed back one of the Ferrymead Seats to site as another seat set heads off to the workshop for its overhaul and paint.
Auckland Transport are making changes to Great South Road in Takanini. New bus stops replacing those by Manuroa Road and Taka Street will be located closer to many key destinations for passengers. They will also be more evenly spaced between other stops along Great South Road.
Two bus stops (IDs 2736 and 2773) on Great South Road near Beach Road will make way for additional bus stop changes in Stage 2.
It’s been 25 years since regular passenger rail between Auckland and Tauranga was scrapped. But a sold-out private excursion at the weekend, run by a non-profit vintage railway, has reignited calls for it to be reinstated.
Stuff’s Lloyd Burr was on board and vlogged his trip.
Construction giant Calder Stewart is close to signing up the first commercial tenants for its $3 billion solar and wind-powered inland port being developed to boost Otago’s export trade.
There will be changes to the bus bay at Albany Senior High School for 4 weeks while works take place. The inner bus bay will be closed from 5 May. Pickups and drop-offs can be done in the Level 1 carpark. Roadside bus bays will stay open for buses only.
Metlink is promoting safe pedestrian behaviour around buses on the Golden Mile for Road Safety Week 2026. The Golden Mile, which runs from Lambton Quay, down Willis St, Manners St and Courtenay Place, is a particular hotspot for pedestrians crossing in front of buses.
Two workshops for Coromandel businesses and their wider community will be held next month to determine how best to support the Auckland-to-Coromandel ferry service. The Coromandel Business Association is hosting the workshop. The association is continuing to work on securing the service on a long-term basis.
Replacing a set of five steps at Devonport Wharf has cost more than $10,000 in consultants’ reports before construction even starts. The stairs are no longer usable as their undermined piles dangle off the ground.
No construction costs have yet been calculated, but if the resource consent is approved, building is expected to take place in this financial year.
The Interislander is hiking its fuel surcharge to 54 percent on commercial vehicles and trucks crossing the Cook Strait due to soaring energy prices from the Middle East conflict.
The former bus depot on McGlashen Ave and State Highway 6 in Richmond is being redeveloped and will house Popeyes, Bargain Chemist, and Burger Fuel, and is expected to be open for business by the end of the year.
A shuttle service between Hāwea and Wānaka could launch within weeks in response to the fuel crisis. The organisation behind the proposed service is Community Link.
The ACT Party wants children to be able to hop on any passing school bus as long as there’s space onboard. Under existing rules, students can use the free bus transport only if they attend the nearest school they can enrol at.
Beach Haven Wharf will be closed between 27 May and late July 2026 to allow for upgrade works. AT is upgrading the pontoon to enable a wider range of ferries to berth, including new electric & electric-hybrid ferries.
Beach Haven Wharf will be closed as there will not be enough space for ferries to safely tie up while passengers get off or on. Contractors will work from 7am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and Saturdays where required. All work will happen on the existing pontoon structure, with some assembly being done off-site.
Auckland Council has signed off its first-ever transport policy statement – a document that sets out how the city will plan and invest in transport in the years ahead.
The transport policy statement focuses on:
Affordable, quick and reliable public transport
Cutting transport emissions
Improving safety for people using the transport system
Getting the best value for money from transport investment
A former Ritchies fire-damaged bus has gone up for tender on Turners. The bus caught fire after colliding with an underpass at Constellation Bus Station. It has been listed as DeRegistered and is not running.
Fifty-five ideas for solving Cambridge’s transport problems will move into the next phase of Waipā District Council’s Cambridge Connections project, following a six-week-long public engagement campaign.
The list is spread across 13 themes including parking management, public transport, walking, cycling and micromobility (lightweight vehicles such as scooters).
Fullers have made temporary changes to the Rangitoto ferry timetable to help manage fuel use.
The following changes apply:
The 12:15pm from Auckland has been removed (daily)
Weekdays will move to one return sailing: 9:30am from Auckland, returning at 3:30pm
Weekends will continue with two return sailings
Public holiday sailings may change depending on demand
Auckland Transport have introduced a safety zone at Sturges Rd Station. The blue-framed area is monitored by AT Staff via CCTV between 5 am and 6:30 am and 7 pm and midnight. The sign reminds people in an emergency to call 111.
The pātiki pattern (diamond shape) acknowledges the fish species of the Pahurehure Inlet and its tributaries. The kuaka (godwit) represents a kaitiaki (guardian) of the harbour, reflecting seasonal change & migration patterns. The kāhu (swamp harrier) & matuku (bittern) acknowledge the wetland areas that were once an important part of the cultural and ecological landscape of Papakura.
Tranzurban’s 3506 has had its bike rack reinstalled; the bus previously had a bike rack fitted while in service in Wellington and while being used on the Auckland Explorer Bus. It is unclear why the rack has been refitted.
TR3506 would be the first bus on mainland Auckland to have an external bike rack fitted to it. Waiheke Island buses previously had external bike racks but have been removed in recent years.
A new set of murals have been painted in the seating bays at Palmerston North station. The murals feature track safe messages, Māori motifs and the Northern Explorer. Crews have also replaced the platform lighting following a copper wiring theft.
An industry leader in livestock transport has described price hikes for freight crossing the Cook Strait as coming at the worst possible time of year for farmers.
A new walkway to cross Te Awa Kairangi Hutt River at Ava is likely to miss its mid-2026 completion deadline as officials conclude their preferred design of attaching it to the rail bridge is unworkable.
The new bay platform under construction at Henderson Station will be numbered Platform 2. It’s not clear if the existing Platform 2 will become 2A or 3 for services to Swanson. The new bay platform will see service with 3-car Onehunga West trains terminating there.
Auckland Transport are trialing GSV & Bus-only lanes on Queen Street between Wellesley and Wakefield Streets in the City Centre. This trial has coincided with the Wellesley Street trial on 19th April, and will also run from 7 am to 7 pm.
Former City Rail Link boss Sean Sweeney says the project could have been $2b cheaper had the design been “more Toyota Corolla, less Rolls-Royce”
The fuel crisis, bus replacements and storm damage created a bumpy start to the year for Wairarapa train users, with usage up sharply but reliability and punctuality remaining poor.
Metlink data revealed Wairarapa rail patronage boardings were up 17% in February this year compared with the same month last year.
KiwiRail have shared photos from the Dawn Blessing Ceremonies on Wednesday. They were joined by Mana Whenua, NZTA, and site contractors for a dawn karakia (blessing) of the civil works sites at Drury & Paerātā Railway Stations, along with the SH22 Paerātā roundabout.
The work at both stations reached practical completion in April, including the bus interchanges, roading & wetlands. Auckland Transport have begun preparing for bus services using the new infrastructure.
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