Weekly Review No.49
This week, Te Huia is set to stop at Pukekohe Station, Auckland train drivers begin ‘train school’ ahead of CRL testing and Tauranga is a step closer to having ferries on its harbour.
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Weekly Review! If you’re celebrating Father’s Day, we hope you have a fantastic day. Why not enjoy an adventure with your dad on a train, bus, or ferry, or let the kids take you somewhere special?
We strive to keep our X/Twitter account updated with the latest public transport news and events. If you haven’t already, be sure to follow us to stay informed!
When the Aratere ferry ran aground in Picton Harbour, it wasn’t clear who was leading the emergency response, says Marlborough’s harbourmaster.
A month before former KiwiRail board chair David McLean announced he was resigning the Treasury raised questions about the performance of the board and whether he should stay.
KiwiRail’s latest data shows that in the financial year ending June 30, 2024, goods carried on rail reduced transport CO2 emissions by 229,434 tonnes.
Tauranga is the latest New Zealand city to trial on-demand public transport, using electric vans in place of large diesel buses.
Auckland One Rail’s 260 train drivers are returning to ‘school’ to undergo additional training for a brand new below-ground experience – operating their trains safely through the City Rail Link tunnels.
Interislander's Kaitaki ferry is now in dry-dock at the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore where it will remain until 12 September, Kaitaki will undergo maintenance and some refurbishments before heading back to NZ to return to service in early October.
Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson says significantly higher rail costs and continued global freight disruption had added to its headwinds of New Zealand’s economic downturn.
Whangārei-based company United Civil received a highly commended award at the Civil Contractors NZ (CCNZ) Hirepool Construction Excellence Awards for the innovative methods they used during the construction of Bridge 217 in Napier.
Half of Kiwis think the Government made the wrong decision to cancel Interislander's new ferries, according to the latest 1News Verian poll.
On Sunday, we welcomed the latest post from our sister publication Every Auckland Station, on this journey we travelled to the North Shore and explored Akoranga Bus Station.
A train travelling from Waikanae to Wellington was struck by a rockfall as heavy rain hit the region, leading to multiple cancellations on the line into the afternoon.
KiwiRail’s Capital Connection service was also unable to operate between Wellington and Paekakariki and was replaced by a bus, at Paekakariki Train Station passengers transferred from the bus to the train to continue their journey to Palmerston North.
The Pahiatua Railcar Society has received a 'substantial grant' towards the restoration efforts of Silver Fern railcar RM 24, the grant will go towards material costs for various structural and mechanical work.
Interislander is going cashless from 2 September 2024 to ‘provide faster and more efficient service’, Interislander says since the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of cash internationally has declined significantly and it’s now common for retailers and service providers to only accept electronic payments.
Traffic lights are being installed at the intersection of Greers and Langdons roads, and work to upgrade the railway crossings on Harewood and Langdons roads is about to start.
City Rail Link has shared a new drone flyover at Maungawhau Station.
KiwiRail has shared a timelapse of the pier replacement project for Bridge 114, which spans the Porewa Stream near Hunterville, Crews worked over six months to replace the two timber piers with brand-new steel columns and headstocks.
City Rail Link has shared photos of the Mercury Lane entrance building façade now that it has been mostly unveiled, scaffolding is still to be removed on the northeastern corner, and work is now underway on installing the glazing around the southeastern corner.
Metlink appears to have been blindsided by a Hutt City Council report that the Cuba St Overbridge is being undermined and could fail in a moderate earthquake.
Auckland has a long history of transport mistakes, and one of the major recent ones was to not build a Northwest busway at the same time as rebuilding most of the Northwestern motorway a decade ago.
KiwiRail has shared a photo of some of the flooding the Wellington region experienced on Monday, the photo was taken at the slip site just south of Paekākāriki.
Inside the Mercury Lane entrance to Karanga-a-Hape Station work is continuing with crews completing the ventilation shafts.
Tauranga City Council has decided to further pause the introduction of part-time clearway bus lanes on Cameron Road.
Glenbrook Vintage Railway has begun moving a number of former Auckland Transport carriages from the Taumarunui yard to a yard in Auckland.
Train Spotting New Zealand also shared a video of Glenbrook Vintage Railway passing through Hamilton station with their SA/SD carriages, In this run, 2 SD and 9 SA carriages have been moved.
Tauranga City Council confirmed support to provide funding to cover up to 50% of the operating costs of a two-year ferry trial, in collaboration with Bay of Plenty Regional Council who will consider funding their portion of the trial at their next Council meeting.
City Rail Link has shared a new drone flyover at Karanga-a-Hape Station and at Te Waihorotiu Station, the footage for both videos was captured in July 2024.
Stage 5 of the Kamo Shared Path will open on the 30th of August, one of the bridges on the shared path is a re-used railway bridge.
Work on the new Middlemore platform shelter is progressing well with half of the glazing installed, the staircase on the carpark side has been installed as has half the new platform staircase.
KiwiRail has requested more than twice as many exemptions to sail its ferries without complying with maritime rules as its Cook Strait competitor Strait NZ in the past three years, the Herald can reveal.
The Northwest Rapid Transit team will be holding 13 information sessions across 7 venues in the northwest in August and September.
Invercargill City Council intends to release a Request for Proposal to provide public transport services for Invercargill, once the contract has been awarded the services are expected to commence in November 2025.
Cranford Street's bus lanes should be indicative of a larger plan at play. But what happens when push comes to shove and that plan doesn't work? What can we do to fix it?
Metlink is holding drop-in sessions to learn about the bus depot development in Miramar, people can ask questions and tell staff what they think about the depot development Metlink has also released renders of the depot.
City Rail Link has just completed the installation of glass panels from the platform level to the tip of the 31-metre-high elevator shaft in the Mercury Lane entrance to Karang-a-Hape Station, the 27 panes were installed using a vacuum lifter.
Metlink is now sharing performance data which is updated weekly, the site shows bus and rail performance including, patronage, reliability and punctuality.
In 2026, when CRL becomes operational, Aucklanders will celebrate a world-class rail network that not only helps their city thrive but makes it a truly international one as well.
City Rail Link has shared progress photos from the fit-out inside the Victoria Street entrance to Te Waihorotiu Station.
Interislander Ferry Aratere has returned to service after a replacement gearbox part was finally installed.
A puppy on paw patrol around Dunedin’s bus hub is turning heads and breaking hearts.
Picton residents and visitors will again be able to travel directly across town via Dublin Street with the road set to reopen to both traffic and pedestrians, Broadway also reopened on Thursday.
KiwiRail is pressing on with addressing the Cook Strait ferry conundrum, completing Auckland's City Rail Link and potentially building a new freight line through to Whangārei, the company's chief executive says.
The upper section of Mercury Lane will open as a Shared Space when the construction of Karanga-a-Hape Station is complete, the proposal to make this section a Pedestrian Mall has been deferred until after the station opens.
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill to disestablish Auckland Transport and return control to Auckland Council.
Waikato Regional Council has voted to remove the SuperGold card holder free fare concession from the two daily Monday to Friday peak hour services and Introduce a 50% concessionary fare for children aged 5 to 15 years.
A former bus shelter has received a new life as a bike shelter at the Devonport Road off-street car park in Tauranga's City Center, the shelter features an artwork called ‘Midnight Sun’ by local artist Sara Hughe.
New Plymouth District Council is rolling out 14 new bus shelters across the district, costing ratepayers nothing but providing savings by generating revenue.
The locations of the first six shelters are
Tukapa Street, Westown
331 & 537 Devon Steet East
Parklands Avenue & Bell Block Court, Bell Block
Mangorei Road.
Te Huia will call at Pukekohe station as part of a suite of changes to the passenger train service by the Waikato Regional Council.