Weekly Review No.89
This week, Bluebridge welcomes Livia to the fleet, the Western Springs Tramway reopens and new EV buses take to the streets in Dunedin & Mosgiel.
Welcome to the Weekly Review. You can stay updated on Twitter/X, Bluesky or Instagram with the latest transit news as it happens, but in the meantime here is the Weekly Review.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith’s push for regional councils to be able to take over management of the public school bus network appears a step closer to reality.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission says rules and procedures failed to prevent a derailment in Auckland’s Purewa tunnel because critical staff were overloaded, unsupported, and unaware of missing track.
Nineteen thousand passengers an hour are expected to be using Auckland’s City Rail Link at peak times when it opens, much lower than previous forecasts of 27,000 people.
13 electric buses will take to the streets in Dunedin & Mosgiel. The new electric buses will be used on routes 70, 77, 78, and the new Orbus On Demand service.
Platform closure signs were installed at Sturges Road station ahead of the Winter Rail Upgrades beginning on Saturday. The signs installed were also incorrect, as platform 2 was closed.
Western Line trains will operate on a reduced schedule until 10 July. The schedule had been set up to have trains run on a single track between Henderson & Swanson, but on Monday afternoon Auckland Transport announced trains would return to both tracks following large delays due to the single line running.
Taranaki Public Transport's wheelchair-accessible Connector bus is back on the road following a mechanical issue. The bus had been off the road for two weeks while repairs were carried out.
Further to the API changes Auckland Transport have made to their operator data, some ex-Pavlovich buses have received new numberings with a Ritchies fleet number and RT leading name. Due to fleet number overlaps, some buses have received new Ritchies fleet numbers, like ex PC4005 is now RT4705.
A bike shelter will be constructed at Te Atatū Bus Interchange next to the shared path on the Pony Club side of Te Atatū Road. The shelter will be similar in design to the Lincoln Road bike shelter.
Otago Regional Council & Dunedin City Council are providing a variety of free buses and extra services for fans heading to the All Blacks vs France game at Forsyth Barr Stadium on 5 July.
Routes 14, 15, 37 and 63 will have additional service before and after the game.
A Park and Ride shuttle bus will run from Victoria Road car park and Wingatui Racecourse Car park to the Forth Street Bus Hub before and after the game.
There will also be a shuttle bus running in a loop from outside the Dunedin Public Art Gallery to the Forth Street Bus Hub.
Orbus Dunedin shared a sneak peek at the buses that will run the Orbus On Demand service. The buses are a Geely C9E, a 22-seat wheelchair-accessible electric bus. To support the buses GoBus has installed 7 electric charging stations at the depot.
At Paerātā Railway Station, KiwiRail crews have installed the pedestrian overbridge beams, each beam is around 19m long and weighs a 26-tonnes. A 450-tonne crane got the job done in three hours.
Rail Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a Māori land block south of Whangārei will not be acquired by the Government to build the Marsden Point Rail Link project.
Whanganui's public transport is set for expansion with an increase in funding over the next couple of years.
The Western Springs Tramway at MOTAT has reopened following the completion of Stage 2 of the track upgrade project. Trams are now able to use the full length of track between Aviation Hall on Motions Road to Great North Road.
As one of Wellington’s ferries temporarily travels to Singapore, the fleet operator KiwiRail says it’s working on options to expand passenger capacity on its two remaining vessels.
Metlink fares increase by 2.2% and the off-peak discount on Snapper cards reduces from 50% to 30% from 1 July.
Metro Canterbury have temporarily welcomed a CRRC loan unit from Auckland while Metro waits for the finishing touches on a new electric bus for the Metro fleet. The loan bus will predominantly be used on the Route 3 Airport to Sheffield Crescent/Sumner.
Cyclists can once again use bike racks on the front of Metlink buses from 1 July, with all buses now compliant with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) requirements. Of the 488 buses in the Metlink fleet, 190 required modification to adhere to NZTA guidance.
A ceiling dangling 4000 shiny golden aluminium rods, with a central kauri carving, will greet travellers coming into the Wellesley St entranceway of the City Rail Link new Te Waihorotiu Station.
Winston Peters has opened the door for the part-privatisation of the new inter-island ferries and a Treasury paper said “several” private operators have expressed an interest in establishing a commercial competitor with Govt help.
Ferry Holdings has reached agreement with CentrePort, Port Marlborough & KiwiRail to set out the scope of physical work and equipment to be delivered by 2029 when two new ferries arrive.
Major components of the Wellington infrastructure:
Reuse existing wharf, extending this by the minimal amount necessary to accommodate the new, larger ships.
Reuse passenger and commercial vehicle facilities, as well as the terminal building.
Reuse as much of the rail yard as possible.
Deliver a new linkspan and connecting infrastructure to ensure a safe, resilient connection between the ship and the shore.
Major components of the Picton infrastructure:
Reuse passenger and commercial vehicle facilities, as well as the terminal building.
Reuse as much of the rail yard as possible.
Relocate the existing passenger walkway and reuse this.
Deliver a new wharf to support the new, larger ships.
Deliver a new linkspan and connecting infrastructure to ensure a safe, resilient connection between the ship and the shore.
A new overbridge at Dublin Street.
City Rail Link shared a photo of the finishing detail works underway inside the Maungawhau station grand foyer.
CityLink Whangārei is to resume services to Matai St that were suspended in March after a series of rock throwing incidents that damaged buses and put drivers and passengers at risk.
Locomotive Engineer (train driver) Logan Burling has just completed his on-the-job training, becoming the 50th driver to be fully certified to drive trains through CRL's twin 3.45km rail tunnels.
From August 17, there will be improvements to routes 95C, 97B, 97R, 901 and 923 with increased services funded by the Climate Action Targeted Rate. These routes will see later running and/or improved frequencies.
As spotted by Josh Rogerson, test trains in the City Rail Link tunnels are ramping up, on Tuesday evening 3 six car units (319 - 973, 347 - 932 & 904 - 362) ran through the tunnels.
Minister for Rail Winston Peters announced the appointment of Scott O’Donnell to the KiwiRail board. Scott O’Donnell is a Director of the HW Richardson (HWR) Group and was previously Managing Director of the Group from 2006 to 2015.
Hawke’s Bay Police are appealing to the public to report any suspicious activity around railway crossings and bridges in their community, after hundreds of metres of copper was stolen in just a week.
Coming from two generations of bus drivers, Aucklander Robert Richards wasn't always keen on following his father and grandfather's footsteps, but it has turned him into a social media influencer.
From July 4th, Queenstown Ferries’ schedule is expanding with extra late-night departures every night of the week.
Bike racks are back in use on Rotorua’s Cityride buses – but Tauranga and Whakatāne cyclists have to wait until next month.
Livia departed Europe on 19 May, transited through the Panama Canal on 15 June and arrived in Wellington on 3 July, Bluebridge also confirmed that Livia will enter service at the end of July.
Just 1% to 2% of people will take the bus to rugby matches at Christchurch’s new stadium, transport modelling suggests - with the vast majority likely to travel by car.
A mobile book bus is now operating from the Titirangi Library carpark to maintain essential library services during the 12-month refurbishment of the Titirangi War Memorial Hall and Library.
The Tinwald rail viaduct was damaged when a small digger on a trailer struck it on Monday, A KiwiRail spokesperson said the bridge remained open for trains, but there was a speed restriction in place.
From August 17, the 353 (East Tāmaki) and 355 (Mission Heights) will run every 30 mins until 11 pm 7 days a week, due to extra funding from the Climate Action Transport Targeted Rate.
As a cyclist who hybrid commutes (train/folding bike) I'd be very reluctant to leave a bike all day at those shelters. No supervision, no security beyond the lock(s) you bring?
With CRL the day 1 service frequency and train mix (3-car and 6-car) will provide capacity to enable up to 19,000 people to use the service in peak hour.
19,000 is not the expected patronage in the peak hour.