Weekly Review No.19
This week canceled bus services make a comeback, fare increases hit the pockets of passengers and what goes up must come down.
Another week, another Weekly Review, It was a short week for some this week with a few regions celebrating Anniversary Days which made for a rather quiet news week, nonetheless, we have scoured the internet for all the transport news you need to know and packaged it up into one easy to devour package called the Weekly Review.
There’s no avoiding the fare increases in Auckland, from February 5 Fullers360 is making changes to commuter fares for Waiheke Island services, fares will increase on average by 4%, ranging from 15c to $1.05 per trip, for most of the changes, the increase is approximately 30c per trip.
There will be no changes made to the standard Waiheke visitor fare.
Via The Press: Selwyn’s population explosion has created a rush for bus seats - the authority in charge is warning the region could run out of buses by the end of the year.
Also noted in the article is a comment regarding the National Ticketing Solution rollout in Canterbury, ECan chairperson Peter Scott said a hoped-for mid-year introduction was “ambitious”.
Public Transport access to Wellington CBD, Wellington Regional Hospital and Victoria University’s Kelburn campus came to Strathmore Park and Wilton residents on Sunday as Metlink rolled out the new frequent route 4.
Metlink also reintroduced several routes that had been cancelled during their driver shortage, extended some routes and increased the frequency of others.
Reinstatement of 54-weekend bus trips
Route 20 extended to Wellington Railway Station
Additional morning peak trips on routes 33, 34 and 2
Route 35 morning peak trips added
Route 26 peak frequency increased to every 30 minutes
Via Waikato Times: A rates rise suggested by the regional council might be steady, but bus users could face a 20% jump in fares, the proposed 20% would mean, for example, that a 1 Zone Bee Card adult fare would rise from $2.00 to $2.40.
Signalling equipment for the initial 300 meters of both City Rail Link tunnels from Waitematā Station to Te Waihorotiu have been commissioned, earlier signalling upgrades at Maungawhau Station are complete and the team is now working to connect the two signal sections.
CRL shared a drone’s eye view into the newly signalised tunnels watch it below.
Via Stuff: Environment Canterbury has heeded the calls from users to extend the MyWay on-demand transport service on Fridays and Saturdays, services will now continue until 9 pm on both days.
Thames Coromandel District Council announced the locations of the new stops for the Thames-Coromandel Town Connector Bus which will begin service on February 7.
Stops locations:
Te Puru: Corner of Thames Coast Road and Aputa Avenue.
Waiomu Reserve
Tapu Reserve
Te Mata Point Reserve
Manaia: Parking bays at Te Wharekura o Manaia
PayWalled via The New Zealand Herald: Railbike Adventures in Mahia are contemplating closure over a Wairoa District Council rates bill of $10,000-plus.
The updated Auckland Transit Network map has been uploaded to Auckland Transport’s website, this version features non-greyed-out stops at Drury, Paerāta, Ngākoroa, Pukekohe and Maungawhau (Mt Eden) and their facilities.
Via Waikato Times: How can it cost almost three-quarters of a million dollars to shift a bus stop 100 metres down the road?
Via TelcoNews: Singer Electric and ABB have joined forces to implement the maritime industry's inaugural Megawatt Charging System (MCS) to support Auckland Transport's all-electric and hybrid-electric ferries.
An upgraded Plimmerton train platform opened to passengers, KiwiRail’s upgrades included building a brand-new platform, new shelters as well as constructing a third track.
Access to the new platform can be found via the underpass at the station's north end.
GoBay's bus services that have not been operating due to driver shortage and operational constraints since November 2022 started operation again on Monday.
Route 10 was reinstated.
Route 12 returned to 20-minute frequencies during peak times.
Sunday services returned for Route 12, 20 and 21.
Via SunLive: The Ministry of Education and the Bus and Coach Association are reminding caregivers and road users that with schools starting back, so too are the school buses.
Via VOXY: Improving social connection in Porirua, expanding community transport in the Bay of Plenty and building robots in Otago are among the latest projects funded by the Age Friendly Fund.
Crews have begun prepping and pouring the concrete pads for 13 new bus shelters in Nelson, this part of the project will take place over the next couple of weeks, from February 12, crews will begin installing the shelters.
BUSIT put on additional buses on the 20 Cambridge and 24 Te Awamutu services in the morning and afternoons to help with passenger loadings as students return to school.
CRL sub-contractors Martinus began deconstructing the temporary Waitematā Station building on January 22, removal will take approximately two months and is not expected to cause any significant disruption to commuters, pics via Shaun Baker on Twitter/X.
At the Beresford Square entrance to Karang-a-Hape Station, 40-metre-long escalators have arrived and are starting to take shape underground, the three escalators are made up of 27 sections (9 per escalator row) and will take approximately six weeks to install.
Via Stuff: Bus patronage in Taranaki has risen by 18%, Taranaki Regional Council figures show, the new data reveals buses in Taranaki carried a total of 744,037 passengers across 42,973 bus trips in 2023.
While work has wrapped up at the slip on Tahekaroa Road work continues along the line to Whangarei to repair other slips, pics by Luke Christensen on Twitter/X.
Martinus Rail have installed a custom overhead wiring setup in the Waitamata Station tunnel, allowing both sections of the scissor crossover to be functional, the team had a week to remove the old overhead and install the new setup.
We got a stack of updates in the latest edition of the Maungawhau Station Newsletter, City Rail Link shared progress photos from December 2022 to December 2023 showing how the cut and cover tunnels have been connected and backfilled.
They have also shared photos of how the Maungawhau Station building is taking its final shape and how the City Rail Link platform construction is progressing.
On the Western Line platforms, Soffit panels have been installed and cables have also been pulled throughout the platform roof.
During the summer rail network shutdown, CRL took the opportunity to install the final glazed balustrade panels on the Fenton Street Bridge.
Via RNZ’s Nine to Noon: A public transport activist says the failure of Auckland's light rail project highlights the need for simpler solutions, like busways.
Auckland Transport have rolled out a 'Mission Electric' branded train, to match the Mission Electric branded bus.
NZ Transit Buzz swung past Waitematā Station to get an update on the demolition of the temporary entrance, the interior walls have been removed including some interior roofing material, the old ticket office has been demolished, the old toilet block was removed last year and some exterior wall panels have been removed.
Via Valley Profile: Issues with the trial Connector van service from Thames to Coromandel Town have left a Te Puru resident feeling like her independence has been ripped away all over again.
Via Stuff: A man has vowed to continue a four-year-long court scrap over a fine he got from Auckland Transport for driving 77 meters in a bus lane.
A KiwiRail spokesperson has confirmed to NZ Transit Buzz that Tuesday's track infrastructure issue was a points failure and was separate from the crossover issue that occurred near Newmarket late last year.
Through October parts in a crossover near Newmarket Station wore out and a 10km speed restriction was enforced, parts from another crossover were sourced to repair it temporarily, the crossover is fine now but is scheduled to be replaced during planned works over Easter.
Auckland Transport have reintroduced the Pride Flags to the Live Tracker in the AT App.
City Rail Link have begun installing art panels on the Fenton Street lift shafts, the artwork on the panels was designed by artist Reuben Kirkwood.
KiwiRail have shared a by-the-numbers breakdown of some of the work they completed over Christmas.
Works consisted of:
3,000 m3 of material taken out of the corridor
4,500 m3 of backfill brought into the corridor
108 piles installed
250 pre-cast concrete panels manufactured & installed
Over 15,000 hours worked over a 25-day track closure
Taranaki Regional Council shared a Taranaki Public Transport Wrapped 2023, the busiest month was August, the most popular route was the 20 and the top 3 bus stops were Ariki St Bus Hub, Payneters Ave and Mangorei Road.
Finally, enjoy this video from Geoff Mackley of a heritage diesel train crossing the Waimakariri River bridge in Canterbury.