Weekly Review No.87
This week, Dunedin Railways to run transfer trains for ABs game, bikes on buses trail expands and Livia sails closer to New Zealand’s shores.
Welcome to the Weekly Review, Mānawatia a Matariki. We hope everyone has an enjoyable Matariki long weekend. Winter feels like it has well and truly set in across the country, with the past few mornings feeling a bit nippy, anyway, let's review the week that was in transport news.
At a meeting, Greater Wellington Regional council decided until Transdev could provide enough training for the necessary number of workers by September the bus replaced train services would be free on the Wairarapa line.
New signage was installed at Pukekohe Station showing which platform northbound and southbound Te Huia trips depart from.
One about to retire. Another with its damaged bow door welded shut. And another off for checks – The ageing Cook Strait Interislander fleet is not amid its best run.
The Maritime Union says the government should not retire the Aratere despite its recent breakdown, as a three-ship fleet is needed for a resilient Cook Strait connection.
Bluebridge's new ferry Livia is on her way to joining the rest of the fleet in New Zealand. Livia departed Europe, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and is currently making her way through the Caribbean Sea, where she’ll refuel before transiting the Panama Canal.
Horizons Regional Council has shot down a request from the Ministry of Education to fund new school bus route services from Ashhurst if proposed cuts to ministry routes are made.
Uzabus welcomed two new Yutong E10 buses for service in Paraparaumu. The bus has a 350kW battery.
A Happy Valley site has been purchased by Greater Wellington for the development of a bus depot as part of the regional council’s Public Transport Asset Control Strategy.
A community campaign is gaining momentum where locals are renewing their push to restore passenger train services to Kumeū-Huapai, a town that’s grown significantly in recent years but remains without a rail connection.
McMullen and Wing shared photos of Auckland Transport's new ferry (AT1) as it was moved from the construction shed to the launch site. AT1 is yet to be named by Auckland Transport but has entered sea trials on the Waitemata Harbour.
The Daily Freight sidings in Penrose are being rebuilt, with a new warehouse site being constructed. Titan Contracting Group are assisting with the rail siding rebuild.
A North Otago mum is driving her son 100km a day to and from school after he was denied a seat on the bus which carries his siblings.
New Zealand’s largest bus operator (Kinetic) is putting more women in the driver’s seat — and helping power Hamilton’s future public transport workforce.
KiwiRail recently completed a large-scale emergency drill in Rangiora. The scenario simulated a road vehicle colliding with a locomotive, around 50 first responders attended the call-out, and all procedures and controls were followed.
To test the demand for public transport in North Nelson, Nelson Tasman Community Transport Trust aims to conduct a pilot between July and September using a minivan that carries 11 passengers. Ahead of the pilot, a survey is gathering information on the demand.
From Monday 30 June, Orbus On Demand will replace the Mosgiel loop bus service on routes 80 and 81.
By Connor Sharp via Greater Auckland: Revealed - 2021 draft Cabinet paper shows Labour’s last minute light rail switch.
A new Metlink bus depot is to be built in Happy Valley as part of a long term plan around public transport but residents say while they will see more buses, none of them will be for them.
Bluebridge's new ferry Livia has passed through the Panama Canal and is now bound for Wellington. According to the Vessel Finder website, Livia is due to arrive in Wellington on July 2.
Buses will replace trains in Wellington from 20 June to 22 June, excluding the Wairarapa Line, where trains will operate between Masterton and Upper Hutt. KiwiRail upgrades include track and formation works, seawall strengthening, & work on the Te Ara Tupua cycleway.
Historical images of Huntly have been applied to the windows of the Huntly Museum ahead of the museum's reopening inside the refurbished Huntly Station building.
From July, 15 double-decker buses on the NX1 bus route will be fitted with a bike rack inside the bus. AT hopes a successful trial will lead to other Rapid Transit Bus Services (the NX2 and WX1) being able to offer a bike-in-bus service.
Fares on BUSIT, Te Huia and Flex services will be increasing from 1 July. There are no changes to concessions or fare capping initiatives.
"No options are off the table" to get the National Ticketing Solution back on track, the Transport Minister says.
A mandated transition to electric buses from central Government and “zero dollars” in funding has Waikato Regional Council leaders grappling with how to tackle a bill of up to $330 million.
Dunedin Railways are operating transfer trains between Mosgiel & Dunedin for the All Blacks game at Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 6. There is a 6.05 pm Mosgiel to Dunedin departure & a Dunedin to Mosgiel depature at 9.55 pm & 11.10 pm.
Palmerston North’s 15-month-old electric bus service not only cracked one million passengers in its first year, but is seeing increased numbers into its second year.
Auckland Transport have made changes to the route 12 timetable adding up to 22 minutes to some trips. This is to make the trips more reliable due to traffic around the Constellation Station end of the route.
City Rail Link shared the May 2025 drone flyover at Karanga-a-Hape and Te Waihorotiu Stations.
The Western Springs Railway welcomed the delivery of Bagnall 2475 from Mainline Steam Trust. 2475 will be at MOTAT for an extended stay and will be running on live days.
Wellington bus trips would be 10 to 15 minutes quicker under a plan to revamp bus routes that Green Party candidates have just published.
Maritime NZ has filed two health and safety charges against KiwiRail over its grounding of the Interislander ferry Aratere nearly a year ago.
Go Media has unveiled its newest transit media format, TrackSide – a 5.5 metre uninterrupted advertising space located below the windows and between the doors on the outside of train carriages on both sides.
From June 20 the Paraparaumu northbound station building will be cordoned off as Metlink begins upgrading the station. Trains will stop south of the current stop to allow for safe boarding and disembarking, and an additional Snapper card reader has been installed.
The tunnels were completed more than two years ago, trains are running through them already, and the stations have branding installed - so why won’t it be open until some time in 2026?
Ngā Mahi Rail shared photos from their recent clean-up works on the western side of the Kaimai tunnel.
The security fences are down at the Huntly Station, and the museum now has monitored security in place ahead of its planned October 2025 opening.
The country’s largest railway celebration in more than a decade is steaming into Palmerston North Matariki weekend. Heritage steam & diesel locomotives will be carrying passengers across the North Island as part of a large-scale, steam-filled extravaganza.
Ngā Mahi Rail unveiled an I AM HOPE rail trailer to help share their message. The rail trailer features the following message:
'Feel like life has derailed?
Need help to get back on track?
TXT 1737'
