Weekly Review No.43
This week, new renders of Drury & Paerātā Stations are revealed, KiwiRail’s new DM class locomotives are spotted in the wild and a former rail car is up for sale with a 1108sqm section to go with it
Welcome to the Weekly Review, if you haven’t noticed yet we have made a few small changes to our website over the past few weeks to make things easier to find and read.
On the homepage, you'll notice we have section tags to allow you to filter by feature articles, guest posts & Every Auckland Station posts (more on this in a moment).
Following some reader feedback we have also adjusted the highlight/hyperlink colour in our posts to blue which should be easier to read.
Every Auckland Station will be back in mid-August (sorry for the unplanned break) but it is hard to photograph stations in the dark after work, but as the weather improves we will venture out again, you will also notice our X/Twitter account has a fresh new look, give us a follow if you haven’t already and stay tuned to find out where we are headed next.
Stay informed with real-time transport news updates by following us on Twitter/X, or catch up on the highlights from the past week with our Weekly Review below.
1News can reveal an independent advisory group has recommended to ministers that KiwiRail no longer run the Cook Strait ferries.
The crew of the Interislander ferry that ran aground dispute the findings of a report suggesting a button pushed by mistake sent the ship off course, their lawyer says.
City Rail Link Ltd has named its Chief Financial Officer, Patrick Brockie, as the new Chief Executive to lead the country’s largest transport infrastructure project to completion.
On Friday Christchurch Tramway collected winter blankets and other bedding for the Salvation Army, those who donated a blanket received a complimentary Christchurch Tram ticket.
KiwiRail has shared that test trains will run between Pukekohe and Papakura throughout July following testing earlier in the month as they move from the construction phase to the commissioning phase.
The Transport Minister has refused to confirm or deny whether an advisory group has suggested KiwiRail no longer run Cook Strait ferries, but the Maritime Union says it looks that way.
City Rail Link shared a number of photos of the interior fit-out of Maungawhau Station, the photos were captured on the station overbridge, the CRL platform level and inside the station ticket hall.
The Future Is Rail strongly opposes the recommendation by the Ministerial Advisory Group that KiwiRail cease operating the Interisland ferries.
Stuff has done a deep dive into the grounding of the Aratere, for what is known about the alleged autopilot error on the Aratere.
Two signal boxes have been wrapped near Boston Road, Auckland, the boxes have been wrapped with flora and fauna designs and rail safety messages and were created by one of KiwiRail’s graphic designers.
An empty train carriage originally designed to be the pinnacle of luxury train travel is for sale along with its coastal section in a seaside subdivision in Taranaki.
A video uploaded by Trains Landscape shows KiwiRail’s new DM Class locomotives under test and being moved around the Stadler yard in Spain.
Mount Maunganui residents and visitors are welcoming a proposed ferry service between the Mount and Tauranga which could be on the way in 2025.
The Interislander ferry Aratere will return to full passenger service at the end of this month.
KiwiRail has shared two new renders of Drury & Paerātā Stations with NZ Transit Buzz, main construction contracts are currently out for tender, and KiwiRail expects construction to begin towards the end of 2024.
KiwiRail recommended to ministers that building and then selling the rail-enabled ferries it had on order with a South Korean shipyard was its preferred option and the lowest-cost solution for taxpayers.
Whangarei District Council is installing reminder signs near level crossings in the region to remind people trains have returned to the tracks.
Currently, work trains and other rail-enabled vehicles are on the tracks preparing the line for full-time use, NZ Transit Buzz understands trains are due back on the line from August 19.
Despite officials warning cancelling Interislander ferry replacements would require "careful and deliberate" communication with Korea, that only happened the same afternoon it was announced.
A safety review of ferries through the notorious Tory Channel could make the Cook Strait crossing longer – but more scenic.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council has confirmed some changes to fares for bus users aged 6 to 24 years.
Children aged 0 – 5: No change; free travel continues.
Children aged 6 – 18: Free travel to support school commutes (before 9:00 AM and 2:30-6:00 PM), transitioning from all-day free travel.
Young adults aged 19 – 24: Standard adult fare, transitioning from half-price fare to adult fare.
Auckland’s public transport fleet has flooded social media algorithms with content created by fan-created pages. Could Auckland Transport have dreamed of better free promo?
The 7-day fare cap for Auckland Transport bus, train and inner-harbour ferries services will start on 21 July, all AT HOP cardholders using eligible services will automatically qualify for the fare cap.
The design for the Motu Move card has been approved according to the latest National Ticketing Solution update.
From Monday 9 September, Gulf Harbour ferry services will return to their full 2023 timetable & route 988 bus services will return to their normal route and timetable.
An advertisement for positions on KiwiRail’s board says shareholders want “drastically improved health and safety outcomes” and a response to reviews into“serious issues” involving Interislander ferries in recent years.
Former Labour minister Maryan Street has become the fourth KiwiRail director to resign in the month since senior Government ministers made clear their preference for a refreshed board.
How Labour's compromise over iReX ferry project led to $100m 'cost burn’.
City Rail Link has shared a construction photo of Auckland Transport's latest batch of EMUs, Auckland Transport has confirmed to NZ Transit Buzz that the new trains will have USB chargers but will otherwise be the same as the existing fleet, they also confirmed two further units are due to arrive sometime next month.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has defended her government's communications with Korea over the ferry project's cancellation, and hinted at a preference for smaller non-rail port facilities.
Shaun Baker has visited Karanga-a-Hape Station construction as the installation of the sky element facade progresses.
The rear of the new Motu Move card has been revealed in an OIA request by X/Twitter user @LukeChandler.
The rear of the card features a web address that currently links to The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi's page about Motu Move and the 0800 number is currently inactive.
New pedestrian & cycle crossings are being installed on Harewood Road, Langdons Road, & Sawyers Arms Road next to the Railway Level crossings.
The grind continues on the Wairarapa Line, with one kilometre of work being done each night to improve vibrations for commuters, KiwiRail expects to reach the end of the Wairarapa Line for grinding work in Masterton this week.
The scrapping of the Interislander ferry replacement project was one of the first decisions the coalition made after coming to power, but some details have sailed under the proverbial radar.
Scaffolding is being installed at the rear of the Waitematā Station building and a small site yard is being established as Auckland Council prepare the plaza for a makeover after the site was used as a temporary station building.
Interislander: Officials' mistrust of KiwiRail led push to scrap project.
Work is underway on the Northern Diversion freight line between Masterton and Pahīatua so it can haul trains for the first time in a decade.
Greater Wellington Regional Council has announced buses will replace trains on the Wairarapa line for 46 days between 26 December 2024 and 10 February 2025, as KiwiRail closes the rail line to carry out an ongoing programme of maintenance work, and extensive upgrades.
Due to the works, the Northern Diversion freight line between Masterton and Pahiatua will reopen to service fright movements over the closure period.
Shaun Baker from Multimodal Adventures looks at how to design more accessible cities for our neurodivergent communities, Shaun also briefly takes a look at how transport agencies can make public transport more accessible for neurodivergent people.
Christchurch Tramway will assist the Rails & Ales event with a hop-on/hop-off tram tour of six venues across the city, the ticket includes a half pint of beer at each of the six venues & transport via private trams offering live music.
Bus operator Kinetic has unveiled what it says is Australasia’s largest all-electric bus depot in New Lynn, West Auckland.
Spotted by @nuclearkiwik on X/Twitter, train station passenger information displays across the Auckland network have been updated to a new style with colours for each line now backing the name of the line, signs previously showed scheduled departure times and had no colour highlighting.
Improvements could be on the way to encourage more people to use a bus around Feilding and between the town and Palmerston North.
An Auckland commuter is frustrated at not knowing when the next train will arrive, after vandals hit the electronic display board at Glen Eden station twice in two days.
@nuclearkiwik has also captured video of AM1005 under test on the third main track near Papatoetoe station.
Coal mining company Bathurst Resources says a tunnel failure which occurred on the rail line between the Stockton Mine and Lyttelton Port in New Zealand will result in an expected reduction in export volumes.
Nelson City Council has installed 18 new bus shelters at 16 sites across Nelson, the final stage will be solar lights installed in the shelters outside Nelson Hospital at the start of August.
