Subscribe to RSSAuckland Rail Numbers Hit 9 Million
Auckland’s rail patronage has cracked another magic million.
It’s a record high. Aucklanders made nine million trips in the last 12 months.
Rail patronage has increased 14 per cent on the previous 12 months, which is equivalent to an extra 20,000 journeys being made each week.
Since Britomart Transport Centre opened in 2003 annual patronage has increased from 2.5 million to the current levels of 9 million per annum.
The nine million record comes in the week after large numbers used public transport to get to the U2 concerts and the Santa Parade.
Auckland Transport expects the 10 million figure will be reached by the end of 2011.
Mayor Len Brown turned up at Britomart this morning and presented a pass for a month’s free public transport travel to a randomly selected passenger, Tish Bhatti.
SURPRISE: Commuter Tish Bhatti gets a free pass from the Mayor this morning
Auckland Transport Chief Executive David Warburton says timetable improvements have seen a 25 per cent increase in services and some trains have been extended from four to six carriages.
“Another major factor in the increasing patronage is the popularity of public transport for getting to events.”
He said that Auckland Transport acknowledges the key role Veolia Transport Auckland, who run the passenger rail network, has played in achieving the record patronage.
By the way which Auckland newspaper was editorialising this week that if you build more rail, as envisaged with the CBD rail loop, people won’t necessarily come?
15 Comments
Any news on the patronage stats for October, will AT still be doing them?
@Matt L AT told me they got missed out in the work between the transition
Wow, thats an average of 25,000 a day!
Are those numbers based on tickets purchased / revenue gained, or the actual number of people taking trips?
So far this week I have not had my fares collected all the way to Panmure in the evening twice. Think of the hundred of so people who have got off before Panmure before then.
Karl - I understand it is a cobmination of ticket sales, head counts at set points and calculation to determine things like monthly and ten trip users. I personally think the numbers are well understated due to things like missed tickets etc.
This is great news. Just shows a little investment and people will chose to use PT.
25,000 per day, wow that’s more than use Steven Joyces PUFORD TOLLED EXTENSION on a daily basis.
Steven, wake up, give the trucking lobby’s funding back and get with the play!
I couldn’t imagine John Banks the mayor at Britomart much less smiling.
Great news and I can only hope that trains into Britomart can be managed a bit better to get the most out of it.
Is there room in there as it stands for more platforms which may go a way to alleviating the problems there until a loop is built?
@Kurt I may be wrong however I understand adding extra platforms wont make a difference. The issue is caused by incoming and outgoing trains crossing each others paths.
Once electric trains are here, the main thing we can do to increase capacity is to run services that bypass Britomart. Therefore those bound for Newmarket could catch this train, freeing up room on the Britomart trains.
Kurt, the number of platforms is more than sufficient. The weaker links are to do with signalling, train sizes and the fact that there is only one track in and one track out through the throat tunnel.
Signalling upgrades are planned, as are new electric trains to run at full six car length, however that will only go so far until we get some extra tracks in from the CBD tunnel.
Brown actually looks genuinely happy and enthusiastic in the photo. Banks would have been ‘smiling for the camera’, if he turned up at all.
And why shouldn’t Brown be stoked? He can use every single of these good news stories to [legitimately] bolster his case for the CBD tunnel / more Auckland rail.
Great news, build it and they do come. Great picture showing Britomart station & happy mayor doing what mayors should do.
Where’s the article in the Herald? Is Britomart a white elephant then?
I did see a story on it yesterday afternoon but I don’t know if it was printed today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10691825