Weekly Review No.77
This week, City Rail Link testing gets sandbagged, KiwiRail welcomes new electric shunts, and Wellington Airport’s new electric shuttle bus kicks into action.
Welcome to the Weekly Review, 2025 is really chugging along with just a week till Easter. A Quick heads up, the Weekly Review will be here next week on Good Friday, and we are also planning a special Tour de Auckland Rail Network to see what work Auckland Transport & KiwiRail are doing during the April School Holidays closure so stay tuned for that!
We are where you are! Over X and keen on BluerSkies, find us on BlueSky or if Instagram is more your style, we are snapping images over there too! NZ Transit Buzz - your go-to hub for all things transport news!
Schedules for some Wellington Cable Car services on Friday morning last week were impacted by a live broadcast for Australia’s Channel 7 Sunrise program.
It was confirmed that the Melling Line will remain open with rail services terminating at Western Hutt Station during construction of the Melling Transport Improvements.
Bus routes 145 & 149 will be rerouted or extended to connect with the Hutt Valley Line at Waterloo Station. Metlink is also exploring options around better connecting the 150 with the rail network.
Stage one of the Western Springs Tramway upgrade at MOTAT was been completed ahead of schedule, meaning a full tram service will operate through to the end of the April School Holidays.
Stage one works included replacing sections of track near Western Springs College and replacing the Motions Road crossing.
Te Huia announced it would not operate during the upcoming April school holidays due to the full rail network closure in Auckland. The service will close on Saturday, 12 April, with normal services resuming on Monday, 28 April.
Te Huia will also be impacted by other shorter 4-day closures later in the year for King's Birthday weekend and Matariki.
Tranzurban drivers have been out training on the WX1 route and route 12 ahead of electric double-decker buses being introduced and Tranzurban taking over the operation of these routes on the 27th of April.
Road maintenance and renewals spending is going up, public transport spending will fall and travel times on the roads will stay much the same.
Auckland commuters face a fortnight without train services as the city's rail network closes from Saturday for maintenance and upgrade work.
Ngā Mahi Rail recently completed drainage works through Pongakawa on the East Coast Main Trunk during a recent block of line.
Island Direct recently assisted in transporting wooden burrows for Kiwi ahead of the birds being reintroduced to Waiheke Island. The burrows are being painted by representatives from local schools and community groups.
Following the opening of Wellington Airport's new eastern carpark on Monday morning, a new electric shuttle bus also began service, The Yutong E9L bus recently completed its journey from Auckland to Wellington, where it will be used to shuttle people from the long-term car park.
Tauranga’s new permanent city centre bus stops are set to open later this month. Starting Monday 28 April, the bus stops on Durham Street, Wharf Street and Grey Street will move to their new permanent location on southern Durham Street.
As the seasons change, so does Auckland's Transport network. JoshRBX compiled a timeline of changes that will occur on the network between now and May 2025.
KiwiRail is taking advantage of the upcoming holiday break to mount a big push on Wellington network maintenance.
Wellington regional councillors are poised to rule out steep fare hikes for public transport on Thursday, with agenda documents calling NZTA's proposed revenue targets "unrealistic and unachievable".
Auckland Transport outlined the work they will be completing during the April school holidays full rail closure.
Waitematā - interior tunnel and acoustic panel maintenance
Middlemore - installing HOP gates
Papakura - retaining wall maintenance
Newmarket - weather-proofing maintenance
Henderson - construct third platform & tracks
KiwiRail released updated information about their Easter freight block of lines and what time the last trains will run North & South before closing. KiwiRail also detailed when the first road-bridging operations would begin.
Auckland Transport is taking registrations of interest to operate coffee kiosks at various transport stations, currently available locations include New Lynn & Panmure stations.
From 27 April, Metlink is making adjustments to bus timetables and routes. The Beacon Hill Shuttle (Route 28) is being discontinued, the N2 & N3 after midnight services are being replaced by late night Route 2 services and Route 12e will become express route, 38x.
Other routes will receive extra morning and afternoon peak services & extra services will be introduced across weekends for select routes.
A new cycle and walkway will create the 'final link', connecting Wellington city to Lower Hutt and will double as a coastal wall to protect the road and rail line.
KiwiRail welcomed two new electric shunters into the country from Germany. The shunts can handle loads of up to 2000 tonnes and will replace some heavy shunting locomotives (DSCs).
Bluebridge released a render of their new ship Livia in the Bluebridge livery, which joins the fleet in August, They also indicated that there will be a final farewell for Strait Feronia, which ends service later in the year.
Horizons Regional Council is seeking an operator to deliver a public transport service for a Marton to Palmerston North bus service for a 3-year term starting Monday, 30 June 2025.
City Rail Link released a drone flyover video of the Karanga-a-Hape Station construction sites.
City Rail Link began full passenger load testing by using sandbags to see how a fully loaded train moves through tunnels, around tight corners, past platforms and signals.
Busit announced they will be making changes to the Meteor, 20 Cambridge, 24 Te Awamutu, 33 Taupō Connector, 37 Connect2Taupo- Tokoroa to Taupō from April 14. Some routes will see timetables adjusted for accuracy, and extra stops added or removed.
Fullers Ferry Ika Kakahi is currently at McMullen and Wing for planned maintenance and repairs, including the inspection & cleaning and removal & replacement of some propulsion equipment, paint touch-ups, and some safety equipment servicing.
A proposal for regional councils to take over responsibility for the public school bus network has been supported by parents who have protested “rigid” Ministry of Education bus rules.
A reminder that Metro Canterbury bus services will be impacted between 8.20 am & 2.30 pm on 11 April while drivers attend a union meeting.
Impacted routes:
3 Airport & Sheffield Crescent to Sumner
8 Port to Port
140 Russley to Mt Pleasant
155 Eastgate to Lyttelton Shopper Service
Dunedin's book bus Te Pahi Pukapuka, is celebrating its 75th anniversary at the WildDunedin NatureDome at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Sunday.
Auckland Councillor Andy Baker says it might be time to walk away from the national ticketing project.
AM 1020 is the second of 23 new train units to enter service ahead of the City Rail Link opening. These trains are part of Auckland Transport’s third order of electric multiple units from train builder CAF.
Titan Contracting Group shared another photo from the Kawakawa SH1 level crossing upgrade. The old asphalt beside the tracks has been removed, and new rubber track fillers have been attached to the rails to smooth the gap between the road and tracks.
Metlink train and bus services will be running with extra capacity and additional services after the Hurricanes vs Crusaders game on 11 April.
The Manakau rail overbridge on State Highway 1 (between Levin & Otaki) is about to get a new road surface ahead of the Easter break.
Auckland’s ongoing rail pain will intensify again from this weekend as Kiwirail shut down the network for two weeks as part of their push to get the network ready for the City Rail Link.
City Rail Link shared photos of the escalators in the Mercury Lane & Beresford Square entrances to Karanga-a-Hape Station.
A Canterbury mayor is calling for a ferry service to run from Lyttelton to Wellington to help improve the resilience of the region’s transport network.
Bikes could be allowed back on the front of urban buses during daylight hours from Monday, after they were banned last year for blocking bus headlights.
Much of the protective wrapping has been removed from the Beresford Square entrance to Karanga-a-Hape Station.
