Weekly Review No.84
This week, Hamilton’s Meteor joins the million club, new turnouts get installed at MOTAT and work on the new Nelson transport hub kicks off.
Welcome to the Weekly Review. Remember to turn off your alarm if you are lucky enough to have the long weekend off.
Just a quick note, over the next few weeks things here will be a little slower than usual due to my day job taking up a bit more time with some trips down country.
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A plan to resurrect a free inner city shuttle in Christchurch could be stopped by the regional council, which is questioning how 1800 bus movements in the central city every weekday is not enough.
The new road link over the railway line on Halswell Junction Road is now open. Remaining works included the construction of the cul-de-sac on Panther Place (old road) and constructing a section of the South Express Cycleway.
Hamilton’s Meteor bus service is celebrating a major milestone after completing its one millionth passenger trip in the first week of this month. The Meteor continues to outperform the old services, averaging 12,144 passengers each week.
KiwiRail shared a photographic progress update from the Drury and Paerātā Railway Station construction sites. At Drury, the station is beginning to take shape, at Paerātā, piling has been completed and work on both the car park and wetlands is making progress.
The Maritime Union said KiwiRail is proposing to cut 70 of its members' jobs as it pulls the Aratere ferry out of service.
Shaun Baker spotted new wayfinding signage at the Albert Street and Victoria Street entrance to Te Waihorotiu Station. Above the sign is a dynamic warning screen that can show alerts in case of an emergency. This station entrance has escalators down to the concourse, then escalators & lifts down to the platform level.
Auckland Transport has applauded a bus driver for his quick thinking after his bus caught fire on Sunday night. Kinetic’s bus NB4294 was operating on Route 295 passing through Epsom when it caught fire.
The new Henderson hut near Hickory Avenue received a multi-coloured mural by the Kākano Youth Arts Collective which features the safety message “Tracks are for Trains".
Via ThreeSixtySix News: The story behind the Government's rail funding announcement. Or, how we can start getting past the hangover of the 1990s.
Buses will replace all trains in Wellington from 31 May to 2 June, with rail services resuming on 3 June. Works include bridge repairs, track replacement, and level crossing safety upgrades.
The wheelchair accessible bus on the Taranaki Connector route is out of service due to a mechanical issue. The bus will be off the road for approximately two weeks while repairs are carried out.
This month KiwiRail will be in Featherston to continue work on the level crossing safety improvements, starting with Revans Street on King’s Birthday, and moving to Fox Street in June.
Ferry Holdings Limited announced the appointment of Paul Silk as its new Interim Chief Executive, effective from 26 May 2025.
Southern Steam welcomed the 1958 Baguley 3516 shunter to Invercargill and the Southern Steam Trust collection. The shunter previously had a career across the South Island shunting rail wagons at several freezing works.
Plans for a Queenstown gondola could be submitted to council later this year, with the first stage opening in late 2028.
Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson believes the Marton Rail Hub can still go ahead despite losing millions of government funding.
KiwiRail removed abandoned rail carriages from Taumarunui, the move has reignited calls from the local council to resurrect the link to the country’s main trunk line, which has been backed by management at a newly built pet food factory.
Christchurch's Peace Train has completed its biggest season with over 10,000 passengers taking a ride along its new route. The previous route along gravel paths resulted in the battery going flat quickly, but since the move to a concrete the issue has been resolved.
The change has made the route slightly shorter, meaning more people can ride the train in the same amount of time each week.
Fullers360 say they have a 99% service reliability to Waiheke Island from a yearly average of data captured between May 24 - April 25.
The Rail Bus East stops at Orakei Station have been relocated to the existing bus stops on Orakei Road. The change begins from the King's Birthday weekend rail network closure.
The relocation of these stops is one of the improvements we recommended in our Auckland's rail bus network still needs some attention article from April.
Auckland's rail bus network still needs some attention
We have just come off two weeks of rail buses in Auckland, and over the past 12 months, Auckland Transport has been tweaking, adjusting and improving Auckland's rail bus network. Stops have been moved, shuttles added, express services added and removed, and overall bus quality has improved.
KiwiRail has recycled nearly 5,000 sleepers in Auckland since 2022. Some sleepers are repurposed internally, but others are too damaged for reuse and are recycled by providers who remove the steel rebar and then crush the concrete to be repurposed as fill material.
No trains will be running from 30 May to 2 June in Auckland to get the rail network ready for the opening of the City Rail Link. There will be two further rail closures during June and July for the Matariki weekend & the winter school holidays.
Auckland Transport has confirmed that another 14 bike racks will be installed inside double-decker buses on the NX1 route over a 4-6-week period during May and June 2025 as phase 2 of a bikes on buses trial.
Phase 2 of the trial will run for at least a year and from July 2025 any cyclist can use the racks, but AT says they ‘cannot guarantee a predictable level of service’. The AT Mobile App will allow users to check in the ‘live departures’ section of the app to see if the bus headed their way has a bike rack on it or not.
New map next stop signs have been installed at Grafton Train Station. The maps show the entire line with the direction of travel remaining and stops passed showing as greyed out.
A cable car race is underway in Queenstown, as two different companies unveil their schemes to connect the resort town by high-wire.
Wellington's train operator threatened to cancel more than 500 services a fortnight in a feud with the regional council it says is yet to be settled.
Christchurch company Whoosh will start building a 2km demo of its "Uber in the sky" transportation system in Queenstown’s Remarkables Park within weeks.
The replacement escalators have been installed at Henderson Station and are pending final checks to begin service. The Railside Ave escalators have been powered up with works underway to tie them into the footpath. The glass overbridge above the escalators has received an updated Tangaroa wrap.
Works on the replacement platform lift are also nearing completion with the interior of the lift refitted and powered on.
Sue Tindal has been appointed Chair of KiwiRail and the New Zealand Railways Corporation, and Jeff Kendrew has been appointed Deputy Chair of KiwiRail. Their terms will commence on 1 July 2025.
Libbet construction crews have just laid the new turnouts for the final stage of the Western Springs Tramway Upgrade. Turnouts allow trams to switch from one track to another and safely pass each other.
Priority seating area signs have been installed at Grafton Station in the main station shelter area.
Work to transform Millers Acre into the transport hub for Nelson in time for summer is due to start in July, once completed, be the hub for all Nelson bus services including the InterCity, school bus, tourism and eBus services.
Work is starting soon on the new northbound and southbound bus stops, including a shelter, outside 104 Tasman Street, Ōpunakē. The stop will replace the current bus stop from Napier Street to Tasman Street to allow for a new community space.
Crews have just installed the first of six piers that will support the bridge on Te Ara Tupua on State Highway 2 from Petone to Ngauranga.The bridge will pass over the railway line near Ngauranga Station.
Environment Canterbury voted to approach KiwiRail to assist in preparing a business case for a Rangiora to Rolleston passenger rail service.
Port of Auckland's rail handling fee is rising from $40 to $115; its peak-time access fee for trucks is rising from $130 to $265.
Wellington’s train network will be shut down on Saturday, the night the Hurricanes are anticipating their biggest home crowd of 2025.
City Rail Link has released a southbound train trip alongside a digital fly-through of the CRL tunnels.
The New Zealand rail industry is facing a "retirement cliff", with more than one in four workers expected to retire in the next decade.