Subscribe to RSSOnehunga Rail & Bus Moves
More good news about Onehunga.
There will be a co-ordinated bus and train policy - something that is working well at the new Grafton train station where bus stops have been re-sited and are outsidfe the train station.
Bus stops outside the new Grafton train station
And of course New Lynn will be a shining example of public transport co-ordination with a transport hub in the centre of town for buses and trains.
The new Onehunga train station, which now shows signs of being prepared for building, will open on September 19.
Sources confirm that ARTA is planning to re-route buses to pass Onehunga station before passenger train services commence. This will affect the majority of bus routes in the area to provide the most useful rail connections.
Some other bus routes in the area either run in parallel to the rail corridor, or run very close to the Te Papapa and Penrose stations which the Onehunga trains will serve and will not be rerouted as this will add running time without the rail connection benefits at Onehunga.
These service changes will require a pair of bus stops to be constructed on Onehunga Mall, opposite the main pedestrian access to the station. Auckland City Council is currently working through the scheme design for the crossing facility and the final bus stop locations.
They hope to have finalised the scheme by mid-June. ARTA will also install electronic signs displaying real-time passenger information at the two stops.
Trench building & excavation started at Onehunga station| Roger Kirk site
Auckland City Council plans to undertake consultation regarding the bus stops between mid June and mid July with key stakeholders including the Onehunga business association, community board, and local residents and businesses.
At the same time, ARTA also has plans to consult with bus users to ensure that the route changes and services affected are communicated, and that the public has the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed changes.
4 Comments
Good news, and the obvious thing to do! I hate to be pedantic, but New Lynn already HAD “a shining example of public transport co-ordination with a transport hub in the centre of town for buses and trains.” A little old, but rail platforms adjacent to a bus depot was - and still is - a rarity in Auckland. The underground station adds nothing new functionally, but does keep all those nice roads open, at a cost of over $100m extra ;(
Ditto Grafton - ARTA could have kept Kingdon St platforms, and rerouted Khyber Pass busses up Carlton Gore Rd to achieve the same outcome, without the need for a new Grafton station. And the walk from Boston Rd platforms (along Claremont St & Park Ave) is almost dead flat, whereas the walk from Grafton to the hospital is steep up Park Rd before flattening out. Not a problem for fit folks, but for hospital outpatients/visitors?
Oh well, at least Onehunga is getting some earthworks, and aligned bus stops. Now if they can just think how they will extend Onehunga rail to New Lynn without having to rebuild their *clever* diagonal platforms…..;)
Great news that ARTA are putting in place a co-ordinated bus and train policy for Onehunga.
There is not a lot of room for a northbound bus stop on Onehunga mall near the station - I hope ARTA considers acquiring one or more of the buildings on that side of the road to allow for further expansion if demolitions are required (the buildings are close to the road with a narrow footpath).
How possible would it be to have both northbound and southbound buses stop at a mini interchange which is incorporated into the station site at road level? There must be a system that would allow the buses to be given priority. For example could you convert the roundabout to lights at one end, and operating dynamic phasing of the lights on Princes St/Onehunga M and Nelson St/Onehunga M to let the buses go first.
And while we are at it, it would be great to also convert Onehunga Mall/Church street to lights and incorporate a pedestrian crosswalk - this would encourage through traffic to use Selwyn Street instead.
That is good news, I wish they were moving the interchange adjacent but beggars can’t be choosers - or something like that…
bob - sorry to be so blunt, but you are either unaware of, or blithely dismiss (without mention) about half the facts. The half that doesn’t fit with your ideas.
New Lynn did indeed have an interchange before. What it did NOT have in the past was double tracks with much increased train frequencies. The local level crossings were already seeing massive queues for motorists. Some may have been happy for those queues to double or treble - but I doubt the locals would thank you, nor would Kiwirail if they constantly got hate.
At Grafton, a mention of Mike Lee’s strange love for Kingdon Street (a station ridiculously close to the main Newmarket Station - you would barely accelerate before you had to brake again) is joined in your post with some weird dislikes of the new Grafton Station due to an extra 1-2 vertical meters difference to the hospital (which is also made up by a hundred meters less distance for your hypothetical sick train user).
The Grafton station was repositioned not because they wanted to spend more money, but to be closer to residential and (in the case of the Lion Brewery) future activity areas. The trench also had to be built there anyway for the double tracking, so widening it for a station was not that much to add.
Your idea to route buses along Carlton Gore also ignores the fact that the buses would then have to go somewhere. Would you have several dozen buses an hour cross the rail (on a level crossing!) at Kingdon Street, or force them to circulate through the narrow Davis Crescent, or make them join the queue waiting for the Parnell Road / Broadway roundabout to clear? Would eat up all the time gains the Central Connector gave us.
Onehunga diagonal stations worry you because of the AVONDALE line? That will happen in 10 years earliest, 20-30 years more likely. The challenges to be overcome there dwarf any issues with a piddly little diagonal platform which cost a million, maybe. Onehunga is built as a temporary station - everybody can see it. It won’t even work for the Airport rail, which is more likely to happen than Avondale.
So what? Planners aren’t idiots. But the reality is that they often have to work with much less money than they would want for future-proofing. But the things you criticised really aren’t issues at all.