57 three-car electric trains will replace the current aging diesel locomotives servicing the suburban rail network when the new fleet starts arriving from Spanish manufacturers Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA(CAF).

The new trains will incorporate the latest technology in terms of safety, accessibility and modern amenities like on-board Wi-Fi networks. They will be comfortable, quiet, environmentally friendly and attractive.

The 12.5m mock-up pictured here, on display at MOTAT, is far smaller than the 70m trains that will travel across Auckland. But it includes a full driver’s cab and sections of the upper and lower seating areas of the passenger cabins. It was built primarily as an engineering tool to allow refinements to be made to the design and layout of the train.

Over the past three months, designers, engineers, operating crew and user groups have been assessing the interior design and making adjustments.

This work has considered such things as the size, shape and spacing of seats, the seat configuration around the doors, the provision for bike and pushchair storage and wheelchair turning spaces, along with analysing how these areas interact with the general passenger seating and flow in the cabins.

* Volunteers are occasionally updating photos here to maintain the historical record of Auckland’s path to electric trains. Jon C who started this blog moved to Brisbane and is no longer involved.

Along the western line, cantilevers and portals were being installed in preparation for electric trains.

There was also bridge works at the Sandringham Road rail bridge.

There were  foundation works at Newmarket and track maintenance works at Parnell between the tunnel and bridge.

Taking place at Penrose was maintenance and welding work and at Otahuhu earthing and bonding and foundation work to ready platforms for electric trains.

More preparatory works for electrification was carried out between Puhinui and Wiri and signaling work in Papatoetoe.  There were be platform works at Takanini station, and track alignment at Homai.

The platform is now being extended.

The curious observation from 4 years of writing this is that it’s usually not the stories where you tread on sacred crows and sweat that it will cause a storm that really get you in trouble.

It’s some innocent story you think only a few will bother reading that ends going viral globally and while it roars around the net for weeks, takes on a life of its own.

Before you know, the inbox is full of angry people shouting at you.

AKT’s policy has been rare in the blog world: to do original reporting and photography and not wait to link to stories mainstream media. It has broken many big stories often a week ahead of mainstream media -and as part of its mission, also brought you the good news stories the bad news-obsessed mainstream media ignore.

It’s obvious breaking the news about the electric trains deal will bring massive traffic.

It’s those unexpected hits that turn into the wild surprises and often run the wrath of authorities or sections of the public!

We like to be liked. Running a site like this with the volume of traffic means you have to develop a thick skin.

To be honest, I never got used to the really vile violent emails you get sometimes – but know it comes with the territory.

Fair enough. I have a soapbox (although it’s one that costs me monthly) and others want their contrary opinion recorded too. That’s why the site encourages debate. It’s the debate off the site via email that is often extraordinary if not bizarre. On the positive front, it’s often been the offline debate between people and authorities never publicly recorded that has helped people solve issues and get action behind the scenes. AKT has had numerous of those wins.

But here are just a few of those most popular widely read craziest public moments over the last 4 years:

*  Kill Jon C

Nothing prepared me for the reaction to an innocent post I wrote one Sunday night on a quiet weekend when nothing was happening in the transport world.

It was suppose to be about ways overseas bus companies were changing the seating to accommodate the fact populations were getting fatter.

I thought only the most hardened of PT geeks would get off on a post about the technical challenges of changing bus layouts as I wrote.

In the country that invented obesity along with their fat-saturated fast food, the US Federal Transit Authority proposes raising the assumed average weight per bus passenger from 68 kilos to 80 kilos which will result in fewer people being allowed on each city transit bus.
They say the average American bus rider is now tipping the scale at more than 90 kilos but current federal guidelines on average bus passenger weight are based on surveys in 1960-62 of what Americans weighed then.

The transit authority, which regulates how much weight a bus can carry, also proposes adding an 12 centimetres of floor space per passenger “to acknowledge the expanding girth of the average passenger.”

Before I could finish my breakfast, I found the Herald splashed the story across page three and online declaring I was not only waging war on fatties but was running around taking photos of fat people on Auckland buses.

I wasn’t that stupid. Because I did not have such a photo amongst my own photo library, I had taken a publcly available shot of what I thought was an obvious looking US woman from a US site which had also reported problems with obese people taking up too much room on bus seats.

FAT LADY: This photo brought near death threats

I had loaded the photo – for those who checked under the bonnet- with the name “fat lady” and the storm of protests about political correctness flooded in.

I had no right to call her fat. I mean does she really look fat to you? And if she does you can’t call her by that three letter word.

And I thought I had covered my ass by starting the original post by apologising just in case a non PT geek was reading it:

There is no way of saying this without invoking some politically correct statute and being hauled before a tribunal for hate crimes.
Here goes. Fat people are starting to create an issue on Auckland buses.

The hundreds of angry emails honestly came as close as you can get to death threats. Websites all over the place linked the story and compared me to the Devil.

Trust me to show a photograph of a woman not a man.

Feminist and lesbian groups said I was a terrible male who was attacking minority interests and had to be stopped and supporters of those groups wrote strong emails denouncing me outdoing each other with the rhetoric. To be honest, I stopped reading them when they passed about 1600.

Several said they would contemplate starting proceeedings to make an official complaint to some hate crime tribunal and also contemplating calling the police to stop me taking photos of fat people on buses.

It was the fact I was apparently getting off on taking photos of fat women that brought the strongest language.

The more I tried to explain I wasn’t and the fat lady shown was American and I had no photos of fat people, the more the nutcase brigade blocked their ears and thought they were had discovered the next Nazi war criminal.

I was waiting for a knock on the door from the men in blue.

It took many weeks for the furore to die down. Fortunately I did manage to refuse the Herald running my photo or I would have lynched as I boarded a bus during those weeks especially as I overheard 2 women complaining how outrage it was when talking on the bus one day!

* MetService Water Fail

AKT branched out to cover Auckland beyond rail but a lunchtime stroll in the CBD produced what I thought was just a mild laugh for a photo caption.

The cheeky story in January 2010 was about a clever interactive MetService billboard in Victoria St that was in fact pouring water onto innocent people going past.

WT heck?

Water is pouring down Auckland’s busy Victoria St, wasting precious water and showering people going up and down the busy pavement.

It’s actually raining on pedestrians. It’s all because of this really dumb idea. An interactive ad agency billboard for MetService, that they no doubt thought was so smart it would conquer international awards.

Maybe. But the water pours down from the billboard literally showering people as if a hose has been turned on them. Business people in business attire, who get angry. It forces everyone to avoid the overhead shower and water tricking down the pavement that they cram onto the little dry space left at the edge of the kerb.

A rainshower the MetService never predicted in their forecasts

The Herald’s Sideswipe column reprinted it (everytime Sideswipe quoted AKT over the years, traffic from an early hour went nuts) .

MetService officials were not at amused by the bad AKT coverage.

The “storm” grew leading to a deluge of public outcry and mocking amusement.

But AKT’s coverage got too much for the MetService and presumably their clever dick ad agency.

The billboard was suddenly gone by lunchtime dismantled.

AKT gloated: At lunchtime today, the annoying billboard was empty

MetService got very snarky with AKT:

“The intention wasn’t for water to spray onto the footpath and my understanding is that the wind caused problems for what has proven to be a very popular billboard with lots of positive feedback until that point, and so we have removed it.”

* The $114 coffee takeaway

One Sunday, I came across disgruntled Sandringham Rd café customers  who discovered their cars had been towed away in one speedy military style swoop while they were eating brunch or ordering coffee. The reason was of a towaway zone imposed near Eden Park because of a Sunday afternoon game.

The motorists bitterly complained that when they parked there after 10am that morning there were absolutely no signs on lamp posts warning them not to park there – and  I couldn’t see any in the relevant area when I walked past (see photo).

CARS GONE but no signs. Only notice is the longtime red “Eden Park under development”

There followed a Monty Pythoseque bureaucratic drama with Auckland City Council officers who insisted signs were up. But I refused to give up.

So then they admitted the signs were up at 7.15am – and mysteriously vanished at lunchtime. At one stage it was suggested that maybe someone in broad daylight, in full view of the cafe patrons and busy Mobil service station opposite Eden Park, had come along and ripped down all the signs. Preposterous.

The Herald’s Sideswipe column quoted AKT (for the first time of several) and the battle got more heated as the story got wide appeal.  Parking wardens and towaways strike a deep chord with Aucklanders.

Excellent local politician and Local Board member Christopher Dempsey promnised to get to the bottom of it.

In the end the Council admitted the signs were not there. Sadly, too late for that  poor person in a hurry who roared in for a takeaway, spent hours getting his vehicle back at great expense  and still got no refund for  the tow. The bastards won in the end.

Lesson learnt: When AKT is not around, make sure you take lots of photos as evidence.

I had a series of photos all along the street proving no signs and a mobile video but held off publishing them all in case the Council gave a final ruling the signs were there and I needed to hit them with the full truthful evidence.

* Auckland’s booming new carpark

AKT has long been a loud advocate for the Shared Space concept and has given extensive photographic coverage to its development around the CBD.

When the first Space at Darby St was finished, I applauded it but then, my camera was back on duty – revealing the new Shared Space was being  hijacked and in fact the city’s booming newest carpark.

This was suppose to be a pedestrian friendly car free zone

And as the days rolled on, Auckland Transport parking wardens, usually only too eager to pounce, did nothing and Auckland Transport refusing to respond to the post.

So I kept taking photos twice a day -and actually had dozens up my sleeve to name and shame.

DARBY ST: Photos reveal it wasn’t a shared space but a carpark

I even arranged for those living in close by apartments to keep an eye out and they kept sending me photos on almost an hourly basis as they thought it outrageous.

Two days before my post of a week of photos was about to go live action arrived and the Shared Space became a Shared Space.

* Security guard bans train station photos

A reader one afternoon contacted me in distress about an ugly incident at New Lynn where the train station and transport bus hub were still being constructed.

He was wandering around and thought he would take a few photos to update AKT which was very kind – and something several kind readers have done from time to time.

He was confronted by a security guard who tried to seize his camer and stop him taking photos from the street of the new transport hub saying the ARC has banned all photos of the construction until it had been unveiled. The construction was largely behind fences but his photos had been from the street. The security thug demanded his name and rang his office to report a major breach of security. The reader freaked.

The reader says the man wearing a security uniform said he was employed by the ARC and the only photos allowed of the new station were those authorised by the ARC and which they put up online.

Within an hour I posted about how outrageous it was that ARTA was banning photos.

Thanks to ARC Chair Mike Lee an immediate investigation was held and the security guards were told to back off.

AS a result of the AKT story, ARTA instructed the New Lynn transport hub security staff “to take a less bureaucratic and more understanding approach to such events in the future.”

To rub in the security guard’s ban on taking photos in the fenced off transport hub construction zone until it was opened, I provided a page of cleverly Photoshopped images of what it could be like if I had managed to sneak my way in.

A photoshopped van in front of an illustration of the sort of building design New Lynn might be

My Photoshopping was impressive as despite the refusal to let people in to see it, my mocked up photos looked very real when the fences were taken away.

Incidentally, the site has always made it clear that I have taken hundreds of photos in public spaces but if anyone objects to being included in the photos published they only have to ask for them to be removed. Several train managers, because of security concerns, did ask for their photos to be removed on platform shots and for the recored I did.

And I do have to thank the many kind officials and construction staff that have waved me through, turned a blind eye or even posed for the cameras over the years as I have crawled around recording four years of rail and building development in Auckland.

ONEHUNGA CONSTRUCTION; Workers loved posing to get on AKT

Thanks to reader Joust and his friend who sent me a specially made fluro jacket with the AKT logo. Cool present and wearing it helped me get waved into take hundreds of photos.

Only the security staff from one particular security firm found around train stations in particular have been total pricks in trying to block me.

* Big Brother in the carpark

AKT revealed a strange phenomenon concerning carpark payment options which turned up unannounced at the Wynyard Quarter’s carpark.

I wrote:

New style parking meters demand you put in your vehicle number plate -and it wasn’t made clear why the information was needed.

The AKT post went viral and drew many hundreds of angry emails many calling it Big Brother and saying they were going to bombard Auckland Transport with complaints that their rights were being seriously infringed.

I mean where will this monitoring end? Why spying agencies will get wind that I parked at the new Wynyard Quarter!

BIG BROTHER ARRIVES: You are asked for your registration

The Herald picked up the story from AKT and the more Auckland Transport tried to insist they were not spying on people, the more the furore raged and suspicion grew. I even got a serious email from someone saying he was contacting the United Nations! Good luck with that.

Then one night I raced down on a tip that the meters were being yanked out and sure enough the new carpark meters mysteriously had vanished as fast as they came.  It was one of many times I was glad I had photographic evidence what I had said existed, had. There was no longer any physical evidence down at Wynyard.

GONE BY LUNCHTIME: Suddenly the old style meters were back as if nothing had happened

* U2 night goes viral
On the night of the U2 concert at Mt Smart in November 2010, the AKT inbox went crazy with photos and comments about how bad the train experience was in getting there.

I published their photos and comments and updates and within hours wondered why the site had crashed.

U2: Panic in crowded carriages and the emergency chord gets pulled

The post had been picked up on U2 fan sites around the world and for days the site struggled under the weight of traffic.

The coverage was picked up by mainstream media in the days following the U2 concert – a story that included this prophetic line.
An email from an Australian on one of the trains going to U2 said: “Good luck with the RWC, This is a massive FAIL!”
On the U2 night I reported crowds panicking on overcrowded trains that had stopped mid journey and people were pulling the emergency button.
Sound familiar?

And how prophetic the story was as during the RWC it returned to popularity and was quoted by mainstream media once again including at news conferences of offocials defending the RWC opening night! I chuckled at seeing coverage of one such news conference where the mainstream reporter quoted the AKT report saying a news site had reported it without naming AKT.

* What goes up, suddenly stops

In the early days, I was often amused walking through Britomart and seeing the escalator out of action.

As a fit person who loves to walk and bike, it didn’t worry me but I wondered why it seemed to happen so regularly and why it took weeks to get it repaired.

So after one such observation, I threw up a mobile phone picture not thinking it would be a major story- and found it touched a big nerve among commuters.

Forget the complex government transport issues I spend hours pouring over to write posts about. Their big beef was those bloody escalators.

You know the ones. Out of action again. And all officials and staff ever did was peer over the side and shake their head.

BRITOMART: It’s escalator out of action time again

Oddly every now and then it kept happening so I thought of it as an ongoing in joke especially as on one occasion the days it was not running turned into a couple of months!

I lost count of the number of times – calling posts like Escalator Crisis No 2365!

And it’s that lightbulb time again (as in how much time does it take to change alightbulb!)

Which turned into even more of literal joke when they took weeks to change the lightbulbs on the actual Britomart platform!

I finally worked out why any story about the broken escalators drew massive traffic was because it was simply symbolic of ongoing issues frustrations and delays catching trains in Auckland. This was a symbol of something commuters could actually point their finger at as an example of how things don’t operate as they should and never seem to get resolved.

But my ongoing reporting of it struck a raw nerve with certain people at Britomart.

I got a very angry reaction when I started publishing photos of people looking as if they had no idea how to solve the problems- and kept bringing up the fact one case took 37 days to fix!

How do we fix this? It took 37 days last time

Even recently I was tipped off that pissed off staff might be checking security CCTV footage to find out who was taking the photos.

Good luck with that – I gave up tasking the photos as my inbox was full of them everytime it happened as commuters were sending them to me in volumes. You would have to ban not just Jon C but a third of people who passed through Britomart!

How pathetic. Instead of putting staff on CCTV witch hunt duty, get them to fix the problem! But it was always good to know AKT, as the voice of the fare-paying public, touched a rare nerve when it was needed.

*  The backwards train

Those who didn’t use trains have sometimes accused me of making up stories.

In fact part of the motive for doing the original aucklandtrains.co.nz blog was because family and friends got sick of my stories about the challenges of catching a train – and suspected I just had a wild attention-seeking fiction-writing imagination.

That told me to stop annoying them with the stories as they were bored by them and to get out my supposed frustration by I keeping a daily diary on an internet thinky called a web-blog.

To be honest, I never expected anyone to read it but it was therapy to record the frustrations rather than bother those around me.

In 2009 one of those stories sounded so ridiculous I did get complaints I was writing fiction.

The post headed “The Day a Train went backwards” was also taken seriously, getting linked all over the net on blogs, on news sites and those”odd wacky story” sites.

It drew thousands of readers, serious news sites wanted an interview and it remained popular for months.

I had written it on the train as it happened with the timeline and posted it from Britomart.

Re-reading it shows how far we have come from such awful episodes. Then again some of the underlying communication issues and elements of the craziness that comes with Auckland having an under developed train system are sadly still with it. Some of those communication issues- a constant theme over the four years- were with us during the RWC.

The post began this way and got more and more unbelievable:

Tonight Auckland’s trains set a new high-speed record. The 5.33pm main rush hour Westbound-train leaving Britomart to go to Swanson took exactly an hour – to get to Britomart.

That included going backwards.

In case you aren’t cool, in fashionable Auckland backwards is the new forwards.

Here’s how this miracle played out.

5.30pm: Announcer at Britomart makes some apology which sends people scurrying from one platform to Platform 5. No-one on the Swanson train waiting at Platform 3 could hear the announcement (Action Point: Install some speakers on the actual platforms as you can never hear the announcements nor can the guards on board).

5.33: Doors close. Train starts. Everyone in the carriage stares at each other sighs and thinks, oh poor bastards on the other Platform. Something must be wrong with the Southern line. Thank goodness we live out West.

5. 35 Guard goes through carriages and sells and clips tickets. He’s the nice old guy who is genuinely the most efficient, fairest and nicest guard on the service. Big Ups to Him. I think he’s the guy who wears a sign around his neck explaining he is deaf. (NB Not being un-PC but it may be relevant as he may not have heard the announcement on the platform and thought the train was OK to go).

5.38: Just a few hops up the train, well before Newmarket, train slows to a crawl and stops.
5.40: Guard clicks on the intercom which is a very primitive device as it snaps and crackles before it starts and everytime before he speaks he makes a blowing noise as if he is blowing off the dust but it may be a testing-1-2-3 thing.
Excuse me ladies and gentlemen. We have a train unexpectantly stopped in front of us. It should be going in a few minutes.”

Story continues here

*   The problem with buses

Of dear. Another of those, it’s a quiet news day, what shall I write moments got me in deep trouble.

A post listing why people said they preferred trains to buses sparked an unexpected very angry response especially via email ffrom people who accused me of being bus-o-phobic.

Sorry people. I really did not mean to offend. The suggestions were actually not mind but what people were telling me.

Those suggestion buses were smelly, seats were too close to other people and you can’t always read in the poor light at night sparked a backlash I didn’t expect from bus passengers.

Typical of the emails was one saying my post was a direct insult on his way of life and his right to choose the mode of public transport.

Oh, OK. Please move on.

*   The night our worst fears really came true

These were just a small example of some of the stories AKT has brought up in the last four years.

In terms of traffic to the site, nothing beat the opening night of the rugby world cup with triggered a 4000% increase that night alone on an already massively popular topic and continued for some weeks.

While the media initially was more focused on the actual opening events, I was blogging live from the CBD with photos and coverage and put up my last update for the night just after 3am with the promise of an inquiry.

RWC OPENING NIGHT: They queued around Britomart in frustration to get in to get a train

Some of the AKT stories were quoted by the media in coming weeks and in questions posed by reporters at news conferences.

But of all the developments covered by AKT my favourite pictures remain those of the Onehunga train station opening.

Most infrastructure openings were closed affairs with speeches from the transport minister saying how much he loved public transport and the public only got to see the action through words, photos and videos docvumented by AKT.

Onehunga train station’s opening was as it always should be. The public celebrated.

A steam train arrived at the Onehunga opening with people dressed in appropriate gear

Hundreds turned out for the opening

Mike Lee’s efforts have taken us beyond steam trains in Auckland

So many people waited for the first train, it was like a scene from last century!

And over the last 4 years there has been much to celebrate. I’m glad that apert from the crazy stuff, AKT has fully documented those magic moments.

Here is my final post

Signed sealed and delivered soon

There is no going back now.

In October, the paperwork was signed for Auckland’s EMUs – the electric units that will become know as our electric trains taking rail into a new exciting era.

The deal was with Spain’s CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA) company for 57 three car electric multiple units (EMUs).

And those trains are promised to incorporate the “latest technology in terms of safety accessibility and modern amenities on board like Wi-Fi networks. They will be comfortable, quiet, environmentally friendly.”

It was a good deal with Auckland getting to own the trains.

We were shown images of what the trains may look like although we’ll have to wait to see the finished product. At least it gets us excited.

EMUs: Auckland’s new trains may look like this

EMUs: Inside the new trains

But it’s a long wait. The first arrive mid-2013 and it will 3 years before we see them all.

And Wellington’s new trains slowly came into service – too slowly to stop the angst amongst commuters fed up with delays.

Just before Christmas, Matangi services more than doubled on the Kapiti and Hutt Valley lines – increasing from the current 14 daily return trips to more than 30 return trips every weekday.

Wellington’s Matangi: Slowly coming into service

Getting wired

Auckland’s march to electrification could be seen visibly as wiring appeared.

AUCKLAND ELECTRIC TRAINS; The first sign of traction

And the more masts that appeared along the lines, the more real it felt.

RANUI: Masts appeared early in the year

More stations

Two new stations became closer to a reality.

At Christmas, track work began for the new Parnell train station after years of pushing by former ARA Chair (now Auckland Council transport chair and AT Board member) Mike Lee who has done so much to push for better public transport.

AT predicts with its location near Auckland Museum and Auckland University, it will become the 5th most used station in Auckland after it opens in 18 months.

MAINLINE STEAM: A busy construction site for the new Parnell station

And Feb-March sees the opening of the first new Auckland railway line since the 30s, the yet to be officially named Manukau which including an underground trench resembles New Lynn and like New Lynn has a nearby bus transport hub (and from 2013 a Manukau Polytech alongside). It was a forward thinking vision of then Manukau Mayor Len Brown.

AKT had the first photos of the inside.

MANUKAU TRAIN STATION: Opens Feb-March 2012

The opening of Manukau coincides with the last timetable changes before the EMUs arrive.

The station that served Auckland as its Parnell-based main Auckland railway station for 70 years returned for the RWC but it’s not know what use the Strand will be other than an emergency station. It was to have been the Waikato to Auckland final stop and a stabling yard.

STRAND: Revamped as an emergency station

Going nowhere

Other proposed new services weren’t so lucky.

The hard-fought Waikato to Auckland service came to naught.

In the end, with neither government nor NZTA funding, Councils were too worried about ratepayer backlash to give it the go-ahead to cough up the money and there were too many questions about its viability with travel from Hamilton having to end at Auckland’s Strand platforms, the cost of tickets and services taking longer than the bus service.

A new Eastern rail station near Selwyn College and connecting to Gowing Drive would cost at least $20,000,000, according to Auckland Transport and was crossed off the list although advocates including the Orakei Local Board are still hopeful something can be worked out or new research might find a convincing argument.Meanwhile

Orakei’s big rail bridge replacement programme has begun.

We’re assuming it’s happening

The City Rail Link remained the elephant in the room with Britomart reaching its capacity.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown bravely continued to act as if is definite despite the Government insisting the funding issue rests on his shoulders.

The Mayor says he expects the Government to pay 50%, and ratepayers 16.6%. 30.9% would come from what he calls alternative transport funding and 2.5% from development contributions.

Ideas being kicked around include a congestion tax or toll on the existing bridge – both of which face a lobbying campaign from the AA and transport interests and some potential motorist backlash as the recession continues to hurt.

The Mayor told the Council’s strategy committee in a presentation of his 10-year plan, that the construction should begin from 2016 and the cost will be $2.4 billion.

Anyway, we can pretend it’s happening. Property will be acquired from next year and a Labour-Greens Government in years ahead would be more sympathetic. The best news is that the City Link is the Mayor’s number one priority and Aucklanders voted for it when they elected him. Even the official representative of Auckland’s motorist population,  Her Majesty’s Royal NZ Herald, seems to have come around to thinking the Link may be a good idea.

NEWTON CITY LINK STATION: A very rough graphic

Smart but slow

Also moving very slowly ahead was the much needed integrated ticketing.

Auckland Transport awarded the tender to supply smartcards for the full stage roll out of Auckland’s HOP integrated smartcard to a joint consortium comprising Australia’s Placard and NZ Post.

The final phase of HOP will be completed by the end of 2012, with the introduction of trains and ferries initially, followed by all bus operators. At least other operators have confirmed they’ll be in.

The thousands of us already enjoying HOP on the NZ Bus fleet wish it could be hurried up.

HOP: The machines here at Morningside won’t be used for a year

Flying high

Airport Rail also moved slowly ahead although that timetable is definitely decades away.

A conventional rail loop connection from the airport through the northern corridor and southern corridor connecting to the existing passenger rail network at Puhinui and Onehunga got a big tick in stage one of the study investigating future transport to Auckland Airport.

At time of writing, funding from NZTA for stage two was still being awaited.

Not so favourable was North Shore rail which dropped off the agenda after then Transport Minister Steven Joyce insisted the Northern Busway was proven as the answer and NZTA seemed to prefer  the concept of another non rail carrying bridge.

The Mayor, battling to get the City Rail Link across the line, popped North Shore rail into the too hard for now basket.

New life for old stations

A programme of train station revamps was drawn up by AT.

One driven by the NZTA and taking shape is at Ellerslie  involves reducing the station’s platform by 2 metres in width and extending it by another 20 metres.

Driving the change is that the Southern Line tracks need to be relocated to create space for an additional northbound lane to be constructed on the adjacent SH1 at a later date.

ELLERSLIE: A station revamp dictated by motorway development

One of the most needed was Mt Albert which will get a $4.8m upgrade ahead of a bigger town centre revamp.

MT ALBERT: Bus shelters & longer platforms gave it a temporary revamp

The need for longer trains and the arrival of electric trains prompted other platform changes.

Remuera’s heritage train station had not only had its platforms lengthened but the station building is no longer off limits and was given a nice clean up.

Remuera’s signal box and station restored

Turning it around

All eyes will continue to be on KiwiRail – and fingers crossed that its Turnaround Plan will do just that  and please the Government.

It’s been difficult with the ongoing Christchurch earthquakes, the continuing economic downturn and improvements to motorways making road freight still popular, not to mention coastal freight.

KiwiRail’s 2011 annual report put a brave face on its result which misses targets and the company revealed plans for a $6b writedown on assets.

When KiwiRail’s Tranz Scenic passenger service between Christchurch and Picton resumed on August 15, it ran under a new name – Coastal Pacific, the name the train was given in the early stages of its inception.

And it got nice new carriages.

COASTAL PACIFIC: Inside the new carriages

New locomotives arrived from China amid a heated political and union debate about the future of NZ’s well-established railway workshops, suffering from dwindling work because of the overseas competition. There were redundancies.

The new DL locomotives from China arrived

KiwiRail commenced investigations into the provision of a third line out of Westfield heading south.

The future of provincial lines including Northland and Gisborne will be known in the coming year. If they are closed or mothballed, they won’t be coming back to life anytime soon in the future so this coming year’s decisions are crucial long-term ones.

The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust has lodged an application with Greater Wellington Regional Council to reconstruct the former railway line between Maymorn and Summit, located in the Pakuratahi Forest Park.

Rimutaka Incline | NZ Railways magazine 1930 www.nzetc.org

And Aucklanders continued to flock to trains.

A good start

Auckland Transport celebrated its first year – it’s done a fantastic job.

PT popular
I have long argued: Build it and they will come.

They have. Each month AKT has reported and published the graphs of public transport usage which goes in only one direction – up while Wellington’s has been largely flat.

ONEHUNGA: Proved to be popular in its own way & as part of the Southern Line

In the last monthly AT stats for 2011, for November, people using public transport in Auckland continued to take giant leaps – a 9.1% increase in the last 12 months.

Auckland public transport patronage totalled 69,032,572 passengers for the 12-months to Nov 2011, an increase of 5,738,734 boardings or +9.1%.

PATRONAGE: 12 months to November 2011

RWC’s mixed bag

The holding of RWC provided Auckland with numerous transport upgrades but rail use was a mixed bag.

A popular AKT mantra was that if public transport was not reliable, people would not use it after having a bad experience.

We all know how badly Auckland coped with the RWC opening night – with awful scenes played over and over on TV of passengers pulling emergency buttons in overcrowded trains and scrambling up banks to safety while trying to get to Eden Park.

The worst possible advertisement for public transport.

An independent report commissioned by AT said that not estimating the number of people likely to attend the Opening Night waterfront celebrations was the biggest factor in the night’s transport and Quay St fail.

Another independent report put forward transport lessons from the RWC as a whole.

It left a bad taste although subsequent RWC matches fared much better, AT said they reached their goals and thankfully patronage figures continue to rise.

RWC TRAIN FAIL: Long queues, frustration and poor communication on opening night

AMETI

At last attention was being given to growing PT in the much neglected East Auckland with the first contract awarded to Fletcher for work for the weirdly named AMETI project including plans for a busway along the Northern busway concept.

This will be one to watch.

AMETI: Millions of dollars will be rewarded by a leap in PT growth

Back to the future

Light rail in the form of old heritage trams arrived at Wynyard Quarter – a sneaky way to introduce real modern light rail eventually.

In the meantime, the battle has finally be won to get the trams going beyond going around in a loop around the Quarter and at least get to Britomart which is now in the planning stages. The Mayor talked about it going up Queen Street.

Despite the sceptics, the heritage trams proved to be a popular attraction especially at the weekends.

DOCKLINE: Wynyard trams began running

Getting across

Cycling and walking got some attention but never enough for those who are advocates.

NZTA and Auckland Council did not come to the party- at least so far – for the proposed pathway across the Auckland Harbour Bridge but a rally about it attracted keen supporters who are prepared to pay a toll across if it can be built. Cyclists got a taste of crossing the bridge proper in the December TelstraClear cycle race but a taste is never enough.

PATHWAY: Image of what the Auckland Harbour Bridge walk cycleway could be like

The bridge itself will be a big issue in the next 12 months wiyj an announcement about whether the next crossing will be another bridge or, as local politicians want it, a tunnel.

An NZTA board paper on the next Auckland harbour crossing emphasised that another road bridge is the cost-effective solution but does not make any recommendation.

Another confidential report referred to columnist by Brian Rudman as appearing in the well informed AKT (thanks Brian!) confirmed bridge traffic is actually dropping.

Walk to work

The hugely popular RWC Fan Trail  -10,000 people one night- showed people will walk. Especially if it’s fun along the way and safe.

Sadly after attracting 10,000 to walk to Eden Park, the fan trail concept died and another opportunity to promote walking as an option was lost. There’s a missed opportunity to promote walking as a cheap healthy option and a way to help reduce car dependency.

FAN TRAIL: People walked and buskers entertained from bus shelters

Dominion Road

A controversial city arterial issue moved ahead.

Auckland Transport began geotechnical investigation along Dominion Road to inform the design for the Dominion Road Upgrade project.

Auckland Transport reviewed the project which was begun under the previous Auckland City Council. The project will upgrade footpaths and landscaping in village centres along the route, widen bus lanes and upgrade the road. As a result of community feedback, Auckland Transport has decided it will retain the ability for cars to park in bus lanes outside peak hours.

Grafton Bridge

Anything to do with bus lanes got Aucklanders blood pressure rising and enforcement of Grafton Bridge at times it is bus only continued to cause arguments. I don’t know why the simple solution isn’t taken – ban it to motorists at all times.

Motorways got bigger

Big motorway projects got the go-ahead. Waterview got the nod in a fast tracked process but there remains concern about the ventilation stacks proposed and we’ll have to see how it all works out in reality.

NZTA originally presented this view of the stack as it would be from a primary school yard

And Victoria Park tunnel opened and will get its new southern lane layout in the new year.

Before it opened to traffic, we got the chance to walk through it.

VICTORIA PARK TUNNEL: Thousands walk through it on its opening day

A question mark remained over the Wellington Street on-ramp.

Hobsonville Motorway was also opened. The burnt orange look that dominates the landscape drew considerable debate.

HOBSONVILLE; Noise walls made of wood were painted orange

But any art to dilute the harshness of infrastructure is always welcome even though one man’s art is…

This was the finish of the long-running Sturges Rd rail bridge with its artwork.

STURGES RD: The new bridge art work

Gimmie shelter

Proving more controversial was the $2.1m replacement bus shelter concept for Karangahape Road. Some simply hated it. But the old ones were 40 years old and past their use by date. One upsetting issue though was when they first appeared the shelters blocked the iconic city view.

And also controversial was the late decision to give more shelter to the RWC visitors using Kingsland’s station close to Eden Park. Fair enough but canopies at $2.1m? It felt excessive.

Kingsland canopies: Put up in July for the RWC at cost of $2.1m

Arrival times

And probably also up for debate next year is the new solar powered electronic display for bus information appearing at some bus stops that do not have the conventional signs. Great for the environment but you have to look into the screen to see when the bus is coming, not glance up. And the DLY DUE bus electronic sign information system continues to be a joke.

You have to peer into this to see when the bus is coming

Real time information was being introduced on train stations, one train got trialled for Wi-fi, some trains got recorded on board announcements but we have yet to see the concept popular overseas of a quiet carriage when mobiles and loud music are discouraged.

Still this was a year we made visible progress.

And reader Andrew W also found some photos of Auckland rail of only a few years before that date -a few of those published below – that seemed like something out of  centuries ago ,not the early 2000s.

Take Newmarket. You know that busy Auckland suburban railway hub that caters for more than one line.

When I started the blog Newmarket station was  inadequate with not even proper signage.

AKT complaints helped lead to a man being hired to go with a loud hailer at peak times to announce which line a train was arriving as you could not tell if  a train was going west or south and often people got on the wrong one (as I did twice).

Even more bizarre that a man yelling into a loudhailer on the platform was the fact, the young low paid student’s English was his second language and I couldn’t tell what he was saying.

Newmarket in 2003

We get frustrated when trains don’t arrive or get delayed today. But catching a train in Auckland a few years ago was a real lucky dip.

This was the rundown but heritage Newmarket station building that will soon get lovingly restored and recycled as the new Parnell Museum train stop.

OLD NEWMARKET; Hardly the award winning architectually designed hub of today

The Newmarket signal box

This is how we caught trains in 2002. And we thought that was modern rail.

Waiting at Avondale. You’d never really know if you would ever make it.

ORAKEI: These widely used shelters, only now completely vanishing, reminded me of high school toilet blocks

We grumble about timetables today. When I started writing this, you had only the odd train coming through.

Train schedules and signage in 2002

So not surprisingly see how low patronage used to be on suburban lines – while  this year’s patronage reports  talk of millions.

As we await those flash new electric trains, when I started catching them, they reminded me of the centuries-old ones you would see in those old classic black and white movies!

And we have put up with much during the rejuvenation of rail.

This was catching a New Lynn train in 2009:

EXCITING: A new temporary station for New Lynn!

Breakdowns were the norm. You would think you were in the middle of the African jungle trying to get through difficult terrain, not in the middle of West Auckland.

We waited for another train to arrive to tow it

So before you grumble about what happens today, check out where we have come from in the last decade.

Auckland rail 2009

Key rail events in photos 2009

Auckland 2010 highlights

Rail 2010 A year of openings

A 250-page external consultants’ report for Auckland Council on the RWC released this afternoon reveals that public transport patronage was not as high as the 50% level expected – but was consistent (37-45%) across the time of the tournament.

The evaluation has been undertaken by independent external consultants but has been “combined with internal council assessments.” The report also reveals that only 8.9% of Auckland businesses surveyed felt the RWC had been worthwhile (every taxi driver I have had since has been scathing of how badly they did and I have been to restaurants where they say up to 60% of business dropped off, especially because of the popularity of the Party Central area of the Viaduct and Wynyard Quarter).

And the report reveals that for opening night, having extra buses as a contingency was considered.  AT and Rugby asked the government to declare the Friday a teacher-only day to free up school buses but were turned down. They couldn’t source additional buses but on planning considered they had enough for the expected numbers.

The report outlines the lessons learnt with transport.

• The size of the RWC team was based on ARTA’s previous PT responsibilities and didn;t consider the extra bobligations that came because of all traffic and transport operations being centralised with AT. In future the team needs to be “fluid and appropriate to the magnitiude of the event.” A consistent approach is needed across all areas of the organisation and event promoters need event guidelines which need to be developed showing the level of PT required.

• Events where attendance is greater than 15,000 need the sort of special event bus service operated and the buses should continue until the crowd is cleared.
• Staffing levels and infrastructure implemented for the 3 stations should be maintained for future Eden Park events. Efficient corralling of commuters post-match was important for efficient station management.
• Given the numbers using Grafton station, it might be better to run express services between Britomart and Kingsland.
• When Manukau rail starts, the Manukau special event bus service should be discontinued
• Temporary signage at bus stops should be improve to clearly show which services are leaving for which bay.
• AT should set up their own bank of transport ambassadors and train them for specific transport roles.
• Changes to the bus hub at Eden Park are needed to facilitate a smoother and safer operation, including control crowd fencing, a pedestrian crossing, electronic signage and using Sandringham Rd for the return trip of buses.
• New North Rd should remain open until kick off then be closed if needed for safety. But water filled barriers are needed rather than traffic cones for the closure and warnings posted four days before an event.
• AT should install permanent “sleeves” in the ground at each road closure point for Eden Park for the installation of temporary bollards on match days.
• Improvements are needed to the process for advising residents of their correct entry point for parking and Eden Park should develop a clearly ideintifiable accreditation for authorised vehicles to reduce delays at checkpoints. Parking signage needs reviewing.

• An audit of the mobility parking scheme at large events will determine if there is any misuse of the scheme.

• More taxi ranks are required and taxis should be stopped from enterting Central Ave. St Lukes should be used for coach parking.

• Special event buses should continue for North Harbour events.

RWC: Report says thousands came to "play"

The report revisits the troubled opening night.

It says transport planning was based on the expectation at least 50% of the crowd would use PT. PT usage for public events does not usually exceed 30% and is based on a modal split of 10% ferry, 70% bus and 20% rail.

Having extra buses as a contingency was considered. AT and Rugby asked the government to declare the Friday a teacher-only day to free up school buses but were turned down. They couldn’t source additional buses but on planning considered they had enough for the expected numbers.

The planning was also based on the majority of the crowd leaving the Fanzone at the end of the march.

The report estimated 120,000 to 150,000 attended the fanzone and CBD – not the 200,000 earlier thrown around.

RUGBY FANS: Report says the RWC went very well

Apart from the opening night fiasco, the report says the rail operations “generally worked well” with on average rail patronage to matches being around 10,000 passengers while the return was 12-14,000 because of people walking to the venue.

On the plus side: corralling of pedestrians at Kingsland and Morningside stations worked well and the track crossover installed west of Morningside sped up operations.
Rail patronage on non-match days operated at slightly higher than normal and as the tournament progressed, higher than normal for Sylvia Park and Onehunga where extra buses were needed.

RWC OPENING NIGHT: Awful images of people trying to catch a train at Britomart

The report notes the issues were also covered in the earlier independent report commissioned by AT.

After the RWC, that independent report commissioned by Auckland Transport and conducted by law firm Meredith Connell blamed the opening night fiasco on the event organisers for their appalling predictions.

It confirms event organisers had predicted up to 50,000 would attend the waterfront celebrations and Auckland Transport put in contingency for a worst case scenario of 100,000.

On the business side, only 8.9% of Auckland businesses surveyed felt they benefited.
Auckland Council CEO Doug McKay acknowledges that the report “shows a number of Auckland businesses don’t believe they have benefited directly from RWC and it suggests this is because benefits have been been spread evenly. We need to understand better the learnings here for next time.”

You do. And it’s time the authorities stop issuing made up inflated predictions for how much financially Auckland will benefit from big events. It’s been proven a false science, like those who estimated the attendance numbers for the opening night event.

Auckland public transport patronage totalled 69,032,572 passengers for the 12-months to Nov 2011 an increase of 5,738,734 boardings or +9.1%.

November monthly patronage was 6,023,865 an increase of 441,624 boardings or +7.9% on
Nov 2010.

Here are those month’s highlights:

• Rail monthly patronage for November is 887,576 an increase of 18,021 boardings or +2.1%on Nov 2010.

• Northern Express bus service carried 2,225,780 passenger trips for the 12-months with agrowth in Nov 2011 compared to Nov 2010 of +16.7%.

• Strong growth in the use of Isthmus bus services is a standout for the three months since theservice resdesign in August 2011, which included the launch of the City Inner and OuterLINK services. Growth has averaged over 15.5% year-on-year.
• For the financial year-to-date, five months to Nov 2011, patronage has grown by +11.8% (3,268,917 boardings). Patronage for Nov 2011 was 6,023,865 boardings, an increase of +7.9% (441,624 boardings) on Nov 2010.

Delving deeper into the figures means some events have to be taken into account when comparing with last year.
November saw a return to BAU and this is reflected in the monthly patronage figures when compared to last year. In the same month last year there were three major events where free travel arrangements were included as part of the event ticket price (Four Nations Rugby League at Eden Park and two U2 Concerts at Mt Smart Stadium) that boosted the patronage numbers recorded in the month.
The special events this year were the Wellington Phoenix versus Adelaide United AFC match at Eden Park on 19 November and the World Triathlon event in the CBD the following day. Additional trains were also provided to the annual Farmers Santa Parade during both years. All these services were fare paying services. Another factor that influenced the comparative patronage numbers were the number of network closures to progress infrastructure upgrade projects. This year there was one full weekend network closure and one partial network closure compared to two partial network closures for the same month last year.
The net result was that rail patronage for November 2011 was 887,576, or 2.1% more than the same month last year.
Adjusting for the patronage to and from the three “free travel” events that were included in last year’s numbers, the comparative growth for the month is 9.1%. Rail patronage totalled 10,829,282 passengers for the 12-months to November 2011 an increase of 1,779,555 boardings or +19.7%.

Southern Line
For the financial year-to-date to November 2011, patronage has grown by +23.1% (964,678 boardings) Southern and Eastern Line rail patronage including the Onehunga Line totalled 6,805,535 passengers for the 12-months to November 2011 an increase of 861,407 boardings or +14.5% on the same period last year. Patronage for November 2011 was 574,396 boardings, an increase of +0.9% (5,189 boardings) on November 2010.
In November 2011 there were 509,007 passengers recorded travelling on the Southern and Eastern Lines, excluding the Onehunga Line, a change of -5,998 passengers, or -1.2% on Novemver 2010. The factors influencing this result was that for the same month last year the patronage carried to the two U2 concerts at Mt Smart Stadium was principally carried on this service group and two weekend line blocks this year compared to a partial block on one weekend only last year. For the year-to-date there have been 2,814,777 passengers recorded on Southern and Eastern Line services, 9.1% more than for the same period last year.

Onehunga
There were 65,389 passengers recorded using the Onehunga Line during November compared to 54,202 for the same month last year, an increase of 11,187 or +20.6%. Additional services were supplied on the Onehunga Line for the Farmers Santa Parade this year (none last year). For the 12-months to November 2011 there have been 729,165 passengers recorded on Onehunga Line services. Surveys indicate that 60% of patronage on Onehunga trains is wholly on the Southern Line (between Britomart and Penrose).

Western
Western Line rail patronage totalled 4,023,747 passengers for the 12-months to November2011 an increase of 918,485 boardings or +29.6%.
Patronage for November 2011 was 313,180 boardings, an increase of +4.3% (12,832 boardings) on November 2010 , For the year-to-date there have been 1,983,781 passengers recorded on Western Line services 510,255 (+34.6%) more than for the same period last year.

Bus
Northern Express patronage totalled 2,225,780 passengers for the 12-months to Nov 2011 -an increase of 318,344 boardings or +16.7%.
For the financial year-to-date, five months to Nov 2011, patronage has grown by +19.7% (168,890 boardings).
Patronage for Nov 2011 was 179,961 boardings, an increase of +10.7% (17,387 boardings) on Nov 2010.
Passengers on bus services other than the Northern Express Patronage totalled 50,888,853 passengers for the 12-months to Nov 2011 an increase of 3,140,069 boardings or +6.6%.
For the financial year-to-date, five months to Nov 2011, patronage has grown by +8.5% (1,782,409 boardings). Patronage for Nov 2011 was 4,501,763 boardings, an increase of +8.5% (352,426 boardings) on Nov 2010.

Ferry
Ferry patronage totalled 5,088,657 passengers for the 12-months to Nov 2011 an increase of500,766 boardings or +10.9%.
For the financial year-to-date, five months to Nov 2011, patronage has grown by +19.7% (352,940 boardings). Patronage for Nov 2011 was 454,565 boardings, an increase of +13.4% (53,790 boardings) on Nov 2010 .

Quite rightly Labour’s just appointed Auckland issues and transport spokesman Phil Twyford says what’s effectively a ratepayer bailout of NZTA raises serious questions about the Government’s budget and planning abilities.

He says the new Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee needs to explain why Auckland ratepayers are being asked to fork out money for work that should have been properly costed and funded.

“I will be asking for correspondence between the Minister and transport officials on the timing of projects and the impact on the Transport Agency’s budget,” Phil Twyford said.

“The Government pushed through major motorway projects with what can only be described as obscene haste to have them completed before the election. Now Auckland Council is being asked to plug a massive funding gap.”

Ellerslie: Work being done now to accommodate a 4th motorway lane

TVNZ quotes the Council saying  the alternative could be delays to projects like the Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative, improvements to Glenfield Road, Tiverton Road and Wolverton Road and ferry and train station upgrades -all work AT has organised.

We can look forward to Joyce/Brownlee explaining what’s going on.

And what caused the Auckland authorities to push the panic button? Did they see it coming?

A wise choice especially as the MP also gets Auckland issues and is associate environment spokesman to deputy leader Grant Robertson. He’s ranked 11th on Shearer’s list which also sees Jacinda Ardern deservedly rise to the front bench at 4th as social development spokesperson.

Some weeks back AKT pushed for both Shearer and Ardern to rise to give Labour a fresh look.

David Shearer talks to local Waterview tunnel protesto

Unlike his recent predecessors Darren Hughes & the often missing in action Shane Jones, Twyford has already shown an interest in the issues.

Phil Twyford

In fact in October he made a plea to the Auckland Council’s Transport Committee proposing a Northwest Busway, similar to the North Shore busway and light rail there as well.
Councillors did not vote for the option – but agreed to send his presentation to Auckland Transport officers asking for consideration of bus options for the SH16 from the bus shoulder to an actual busway.

Using an assumption of a cost of $25m per kilometre including low cost railway platform stations in the central median for 14km, he estimates the total cost at $350m. Plus a $50 million “green bridge” across the Whau River to carry buses, pedestrians and cyclists to a bus station on Rosebank Peninsula from Great North Rd at Glendene.

Twyford argued that the northwest of Auckland is currently poorly served by public transport. The Western Line does not really serve this part of West Auckland.

His bio says in the 1990s he set up Oxfam New Zealand.  After four years working for Oxfam International based in Washington DC he returned home with my family. The Twyfords have a 21 year old son.

With Greens’ new spokesperson transport planner Julie Anne Genter, we should see some intelligent questioning at last of the country’s transport direction.

Shearer’s list

Rail services are returning to normal after disruption this morning following a fatality on the southern line near the Middlemore station.  Buses replaced trains in both directions after the incident at about 7am. Buses will continue until 1pm.  Police and Veolia are investigating the incident.

—

EARLIER

At about 6.55am this morning,  a person was struck by a train in South Auckland and died.

This incident happened about 200 meters south of Middlemore Station.

The person was struck by a North bound train and died at the scene.

Trains stopped running in either direction on this line while emergency services dealt with it.

Police say they expect delays on the line for most of the morning.

Police say they are completing their identification and crash investigation. Until identification is made they won’t be giving out any details about the person killed whom they have described only as a “pedestrian.”

This involves lowering and re-aligning the tracks where the station will be – at the foot of the Domain off Cheshire St where the Mainline Steam Depot is.

PARNELL STATION; Work started today

The project will cost $19.2m.

The track is being lowered to enable the appropriate grade for the station platforms.

The works continue over the next month, as part of the Christmas rail disruptions.

The station should be finished mid-2013.

PARNELL STATION: How it will look

MAINLINE STEAM: A busy construction site for a month

The new station will include the old Newmarket station building, which was removed for the construction of the present revamped station, is in storage in Henderson.

It is in two sections and will need to be re-joined after the move to its new home Parnell. That will cost $1.1m to achieve. Mainline Steam is keen to use some of the building for its offices.

The track lowering needed to be done pre-electrification.

The work involves:

• Lowering the track by a maximum depth of approximately 1.75m over a length of 600m in order to achieve a 1:80 grade for station platforms;
• One retaining structure on the eastern side of the track (within the existing designation);
•  Two retaining structures up to 4m on the western side of the track, portions of which are location outside the existing designation boundary and within the proposed alteration area (i.e. on Domain land);
• Batter slopes located on the existing and extended designation i.e. including on the Auckland Domain land;
• Formalising drainage systems located on the existing and extended designation i.e. including on the Auckland Domain land;
• Track realignment including shifting the track up to 1.8m east (away from the Auckland Domain) to accommodate the station platforms, while maintaining the existing use of Mainline Steam;
• Closure of the existing pedestrian underpass which provides access to/from Auckland Domain and construction of a new underpass approximately 60m to the north and formation of new connecting pedestrian path on the Auckland Domain;
• Earthworks involving 17,000m
• Vegetation clearance to provide for the above works. This comprises native and exotic species, native understorey shrubs, grasses, open grass and weed areas.

An existing underpass to the Domain also has to be removed and replaced.

Parnell station will go here

Three weeks ago, Auckland Council approved an extension of a railway designation into the Auckland Domain to allow the lowering of tracks.

The Auckland Transport application for the extension covers a 538m strip of land alongside the existing rail line, covering 2954m².

PARNELL STATION: Where it fits in

The ARC has pushed for a heritage station there for years.

Parnell Inc, the Parnell business group, came up with its idea and found a champion in ARC Chair Mike Lee who has continued to push for it.

Run by Russia’s train company RZD, the 3200ks trip took 38 hours, at speeds of up to 200km per hour.

The route, Moscow – Berlin – Paris, is the second longest train ride in Europe. The longest is the direct service from Moscow to Nice which began last year.

High speed rail cross nations is becoming the norm

The cheapest fare was NZ$600, and the most expensive ticket costs NZ$1802. For comparison, the price of an average Moscow-Paris one-way plane ticket is almost half the price.

The service has 8 sleeping carriages, a bar and dining car.

It was the first time the penny may have dropped for many in realising  that some disruptions start from now, prior to the full closedown.

You can read in faces the initial panic about .. how the hell will I get to where I am going from Monday.

I remain very disappointed that Auckland Transport has chosen to treat their regular fare-paying customers with such disdain. We all understand the need for network work to take place – it has happening at weekends for years. And the Christmas month long closedown is an accepted tradition. The work being done will benefit us all in the long-run.

But the main reason for bringing this forward this year – because of the one-day music festival Big Day Out- is outrageous. Regular commuters had to put up with being treated poorly for many weeks of the RWC. They came back to the trains afterwards but are now rewarded with this at the most stressful time of year.

Even though tertiary and other educational institutions have closed for the year and businesses are winding down, there is a lot to achieve in a short time for most of us. Many businesses are still in full flight. The last thing we need is to face interruptions to our journeys.

My most-used phrase on this site is that if public transport is not reliable people will not get out of their cars and use it. It’s the main reason people give me for not even trying to use public transport.

To mess with regulars such a short time after the RWC suggests they are easily dispensable.

Big Day Out 2012 in January is already a watered-down festival and may be the last one ever. The diluted line-up may well have put BDO veterans off already especially as there are so many summer music festivals happening over January with interesting lineups.That’s certainly what regulars I know tell me.

Music fans head for Mt Smart stadium

Buses already run to BDO and as buses were used to get the 50,000 to Western Springs for the Foo Fighters (admittedly in this case with disastrous project management) why do trains have to be used? AT said it’s a commercial agreement that exists between NZ Bus and Big Day Out for bus shuttle services from the top of Queen Street to Mt Smart.

“However, says AT, “this service has not met public transport demand historically and a special event rail service (fare paying) has been historically operated to meet the additional demand.”

Isn’t that selective use of the “historical” facts. The fringe bus service to BDO was never the only option so it’s inevitable people would chose to catch trains nearer their home than coming all the way into the CBD then walk all the way up Queen St to Real Groovy near Mayoral Drive to catch a bus. Putting on buses as was done for Foo Fighters has not be tried so why argue this using the fringe bus service done before as saying buses don’t work.

Buses were used during the RWC so why do they not work for special events anymore?

The report on this to the AT board justified an earlier closedown as impacting only a maximum of 2,850 passenger trips per day including both inbound and outbound while a closure when Big Day Out was one (January 18-25) would affect a maximum of 3,150 passenger trips per day including both inbound and outbound. This represents about 20% of the daily network usage. Therefore, it believed the minimum impact on regular commuters will be pre-Christmas closure.

Agreed that this is the best of two evils. But shame on AT for choosing the option that once again penalises those who continually support public transport, not offer up a decent bus service instead to those who use public transport once a year only when it is convenient.

The focus of the works in the Wellington region will enable staff to work on:

• Upgrading Tunnel Two on the North Island Main Trunk
• Replacing overhead wiring and poles south of Paekakariki
• Upgrades to the Naenae station
• Upgrade to the Kenepuru station
• Slope stabilisation work on the Johnsonville and NIMT lines.
• While the work is underway freight services will be routed through the Wairarapa while Tunnel Two is closed.
• General maintenance activities on hard to get at infrastructure will also be completed during this time.

In Auckland KiwiRail is preparing for the electrification of the rail network at multiple sites around the network.

Work starts in from next week in Parnell, and expands to the remaining network from Boxing Day onwards, for up to three weeks in some places.

Work around the Parnell station will be intense

Auckland activities include:

• The replacement of four rail overbridges (Orakei Rd, Mt Wellington Highway, Mountain Rd and Morrin Rd) and five footbridges (Orakei, Meadowbank, Ellerslie, Puhinui and Otahuhu)
• Lowering the tracks in the Parnell gully to allow for the proposed station at the site in the future
• The commissioning of a new signalling system between Morningside and Swanson stations
• Major track works at Wiri, and around Papakura station and structural works at Britomart in advance of electric trains arrivin
• Continuing the installation of overhead wires and masts along the Western, Southern and Onehunga Branch Lines

Buses will replace trains during the Christmas and New Year period while a number of major works are carried out across the rail network..
The full rail network will be closed from Christmas Day until Tuesday  January 4, with buses replacing trains at all times except on Christmas Day.

Rail line closures
Saturday  December 17 and Sunday December 18 – Waitakere to Britomart, Papakura to Britomart via Newmarket, Onehunga to Britomart, and Papakura to Otahuhu.
Monday 19 to Saturday December 24– Newmarket to Britomart.
Christmas Day – Full network closure, no buses replacing trains.
Monday December 26 to Tuesday January 4 – Full network closure, buses replace all trains.
Wednesday 5 to Sunday  January 15 – Newmarket to Britomart and Papakura to Britomart via Glen Innes.
Monday 16 to Wednesday  January 18– Newmarket to Britomart.

Auckland – details on Maxx

Wellington- details on Tranz Metro

Last night I had to walk away from the Foo Fighters public transport shambles it was so depressing. And it was happening almost exactly where the opening night fail occured.

Buses were to be operating every 5 minutes from Quay St around the back of the Britomart at the foot of Queen St.

The shambles resembled all the bad mistakes of the RWC opening night and gave me bad memories of that night .

• There seemed to be no info people visible and everyone was asking WTF was going on.
• No helpful signage. Many people from out of town or not used to buses were actually wandering around town asking how they get the buses -I answered a number of them
• Queues in all directions snaking right around the street
• Ticket collectors selling tickets in the middle of it with no semblance of an ordered queue
• No clear indication you used the same ticket home
• Ticket collectors mixed up in between people hawking Foo Fighter T-shirts
• No queueing barricades  as were also missing on opening night of the RWC so by the time it snaked around streets no one knew where the queue started
• Footpaths were blocked by people queueing while normal city workers were trying to find a way to walk along Quay St
• And after 20 minutes when I was there around 6pm, still no bus had arrived!
• To make the issue worse it was raining – but the crowd, excited about the show, was very well-mannered until they started despairing they would not get to see opening acts or even arrive in time

SHAMBLES: Foo Fighters bus snaking queue

It all had horrible memories of that awful RWC night and the potential for people to lose it.

RWC OPENING NIGHT: They queued around Britomart in frustration to get in to get a train

Did authorities underestimate how many people would use the buses even though promotors had emailed ticketholders to use buses because of limited parking near Western Springs and road closures – and AT had also publicised the public transport arrangements which looked good on paper.

Or can Auckland simply not cope with an event involving 50,000 trying to get somewhere in the middle of a weekday rush hour?

The rest of the RWC fixtures worked well – but most were not on a week night at rush hour and thousands picked to walk for fear of not getting to the event because of the opening night fail.

And buses use roads so once they had dropped Foo Fighter fans at Western Springs they had to battle rush hour traffic to get back to pick up more people.

As unprintable comments flowed around me about what people thought of the public transport in Auckland, I elected to walk to the stadium.
On the way I found others did too – but many people would not have know how to get through the back streets of Ponsonby to find Western Springs.

Why was the Fan Trail – a fan trail to Western Springs – not thought of?

It was a manageable walk not that much further than Eden Park was?

FAN TRAIL: Worked well and very popular

Other factors highlighted the Auckland problems.
Auckland motorists seem incapable of adjusting to driving in the rain and I saw some crazy irresponsible behaviour as one often does when the day turns wet.

But what else was going on with public transport?
I passed the Kingsland station where announcements were being made apologizing for delays.
At one stage I also tried to get a LINK bus from Albert St to at least get to Ponsonby.

In the course of 30 minutes, 2 LINK buses showed on the sign as being minutes away and then becoming DUE and then the kiss of death -DLY. And then vanishing never ever to turn up.

Public transport is only useful when it is reliable and this joke with the electronic signs has gone too far. The same thing happened twice last week when I tried to get an Outer Link.

In all cases they lost my custom and made me feel less inclined to use the service in future when you need to get somewhere and believe a service turns up every 15 minutes but then doesn’t.

Was last night’s LINK problem a sign that public transport generally falls apart if  extra pressure is put on for a special event?

But let’s not get distracted.
I’ve had heaps of complaints about the Foo Fighters shambles today. Many said they gave up even trying for a bus back. And they lose faith in Auckland public transport which is always the sad thing. You won’t get people out of their cars if they have one bad experience with PT.

Typical of the complaints was this one from “OrangeKiwi”:

“Well, transport to the gig was a disaster. Could’ve taken the Outer Link to St Lukes and walk a short distance (1.2k I think), but for some reason opted to go 2 Britomart and catch one of the special buses instead.

Bad choice. It was very busy (as you would expect) but no communication whatsoever, ended up in a queue with other people who had no clue about what was going on either. After having waited in the queue for 30mins we found out from other people in the queue you couldn’t pay on the bus and there was a separate queue for tickets. No word on that on any website beforehand, no signs placed on location and no-one there to tell us about this.

That ticket queue went at least one and a half time around the block of buildings (bordered by Quay, Commerce, Tyler, Queen St) and was hardly moving. Looked liked it was going to take an hour at least just to get the tickets – then back to the second queue for boarding.

So just like many, many others we ventured off into Queen St and surrounding areas looking for a taxi. It was crazy, but managed to find one. Those taxi drivers had one of the best nights I can tell you.

On the way back we just went for a taxi straight away, which was fast and easy as – our taxi driver commented to us that the taxi pickup area was extremely well organised for once. Apparently the buses were still not leaving by the time we got home (it’s about 7k).

Foo Fighters rocked though, had a good night out…

Yes, at least Foo got it right.

Due to constraints on train movements at Britomart it is not possible to make adjustments to the timetable on one route without affecting the arrivals and departures of trains on all other lines.

Therefore, rather than a piecemeal approach that would require frequent service changes, AT has grabbed the opportunity to develop a timetable that includes many of the planned service improvements that were assumed to be in place ahead of the introduction of electric trains.

Key service improvements include:

• Introduction of train services to Manukau. Initial service offering will be 3 trains an hour during the peak and two trains an hour at all other times.

• Introduction of 6 trains an hour from Henderson during the peak Monday to Friday on the Western Line. AT notes that the infrastructure works to allow this level of service were completed in August 2010 and patronage has now grown to a level that warrants this service capacity.

• Western Line services will operate  a half-hourly service between Swanson and Britomart during the core of the day on both Saturdays and Sundays.

• Onehunga Line services will be increased to half-hourly throughout the day and at a weekend, to accommodate further growth.

• Increased frequency of services from Pukekohe to every 60 minutes during the day midweekin response to customer demand. While the final SA carriages were introduced in July 2011, the proposed timetable will ensure that available rolling stock  resources  are directed to where demand and growth has been the strongest and increases in frequency  will accommodate expected demand and passenger numbers through 2012.

At says these timetable changes will be the last major revision to schedules until the introduction of EMUs during the 2013-14 year, and represent the mature diesel peak timetable which can be delivered with existing rolling stock.

AT says the new electric train is on schedule with the first 3 car unit scheduled for arrival fourth quarter 2013.

It’s still vague exactly when the first electric trains will be running –AT says early to mid-2014 saying 8 to 10 EMUs will be needed to be up and running to provide a workable service.

The new Manukau underground station ready for passengers

In other trials and developments:

• Work is also progressing with Howick & Eastern Buses to implement bus service changes in March  to integrate local bus services with the new train service at Manukau.

Two bus routes from east of the Southern Motorway, 466 from The Gardens and Everglade Drive and 580 from Howick and Botany will be extended to the new Manukau station and will have their peak frequency increased from 30 minutes to 20 minutes to match the train timetable.

Other Manukau bus services will be extended to the new Manukau Interchange when it is opened as part of the MIT campus development – currently scheduled for March – April 2013.

• An Environment Court consent has now been granted for stage 1 of the Hibiscus Coast Busway (park and ride at Silverdale).  The appeal period closes on December 13. If no appeals are received construction will commence in the New Year.

• And any day now, existing passenger information display screens on the Onehunga rail line (Onehunga station, Te Papapa station and platform 3 at Penrose station) will start to display real-time passenger information for rail services. This is the first public trial of the new real-time system for rail.  Subject to the success of the trial, early next year will see more train stations with the real-time service information, as part of the overall enhancement of real-time passenger information across bus, train and ferry.

• A trial of an improved weekend ferry service offering between Downtown and Bayswater, Birkenhead, Northcote Point and Half Moon Bay is about to commence and operate through to  February 26.    The period of the service offering may be extended subject to customer uptake.   This is in response to customer feedback and demand for improved weekend ferry service options and will provide for enhanced frequency and standard time between sailings providing customers with greater options to access the CBD at weekends.  The trial is operated by Fullers.

Joyce, successful campaign manager for the last election, gets his reward of becoming a super minister driving economic development, associate finance, science and innovation and associate finance. He also is minister in charge of tertiary education.

He jumps to fourth place in Cabinet from 14th.

Bill English is still finance minister and infrastructure remains part of that.

Brownlee returns to Cabinet after concentrating on driving the post-Christchurch quake recovery and while he will still be a Minister in charge of that, he returns to being Leader of the House and picks up transport.

Steven Joyce: A new super economic minister

There had been speculation Nathan Guy, Otaki’s MP, and associate transport minister would take over. Guy’s electorate includes the controversial Kapiti highway/ Transmission Gully developments.Guy is Minister of immigration and racing.

Full Cabinet list

Veolia Environnement SA, the world’s biggest water utility, will sell NZ$8.5 billion worth of assets to cut debt as it exits the mass-transit business to focus on water, waste and energy services.

Veolia will shrink its “geographic footprint” to about 40 countries from 77 in a bid to lower debt to less than NZ$20.6 billion by the end of 2013. Net financial debt was 27 billion at the end of September.

Veolia did not specify specific countries it’s exiting from but did say it plans to focus on central and Eastern Europe, China, France, waste operations in the U.K. and energy services in the U.S.

The company is trying to restore investor confidence in the group after Veolia surprised investors in July with a profit warning and its debt situation

Veolia Transport Auckland operates the Auckland passenger rail network on behalf of Auckland Transport. This contract extends through to March 2014.

VEOLIA: Runs Auckland trains until 2014

The merger in March 2011 of Veolia Transport and Transdev Group created a group with operations in 28 countries worldwide and 120,000 employees. The combined Veolia Transdev is the largest private transport operator in the world.

Transdev was formed last year by a merger of the transport arm of Veolia and that of Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC), a French state bank. There was speculation that CDC could be among potential buyers of Veolia’s Transdev stake.