Looking at Transport Planning and Design
Where to for the 2013-2016 Term of Auckland Council This from The Herald was rather telling: Photo / Greg Bowker. Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11139291 That aside this is what we have from … Continue reading Auckland Council Elections – The Proviso
Special Housing Areas (First 10) Announced Earlier today the Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Mayor Len Brown announced the first 10 Special Housing Areas under the Housing Accord. … Continue reading 6000 New Homes to Be Built in Auckland
I had received some feedback in regards to the Auckland Electrification Project – specifically around delays and setbacks. I sent some questions to Auckland Transport who have replied this morning in regards to the Electrification roll out (the infrastructure not the EMU trains).
While I will need to follow-up with Kiwi Rail in regards to Electrification completion on the Eastern Line (from Westfield Junction to Britomart), Newmarket to Britomart and Britomart Station itself I do have confirmation of extended closures on the rail line south of Otahuhu Station starting this coming Friday.
As Southern Auckland rail commuters are aware, from May 27 this year the rail line between Otahuhu and Papakura (including the Manukau Line and Station) would close at 8:30pm – Sunday to Thursday. That means the 8:10pm Britomart to Papakura va Newmarket service is the last full service through to Papakura. After 8:30pm your train will go as far on the Eastern, Southern and Manukau Lines to Otahuhu where you will need to transfer to a Rail Bus to finish your journey. The closure is to allow continued work on the Electrification project in the area.
However this “ramp down” as we call it in the rail transport trade is now to occur seven days a week until the Christmas-New Year Close Down Auckland is use too for the last several years. That means: the 8:10pm Britomart to Papakura va Newmarket service is the last full service through to Papakura. After 8:30pm your train will go as far on the Eastern, Southern and Manukau Lines to Otahuhu where you will need to transfer to a Rail Bus to finish your journey – SEVEN DAYS A WEEK starting this week.
So again
From this coming Friday 11th October 2013 until the Christmas/New Close Down, from 8:30pm – seven days a week (unless otherwise stated by Auckland Transport such as a Special Event); Southern, Eastern and Manukau Line Trains will only run between Britomart and Otahuhu. To go further south (or to come north from south of Otahuhu) you will need to complete/start your journey on a rail bus. Western and Onehunga Line not affected by this ramp down.
I managed to have the following brochure handed to me about AT HOP and North Star Buses. North Star run the North Shore to CBD routes and are provided by NZ Bus (part of Infratil and also those responsible for the Snapper Disaster (the smart card not the fish one).
The Brochure
Those astute readers will see the long lead in time and delays of the AT-HOP roll out for the North Shore. This is owning to some “glitch” (where have I heard this before) in the AT-HOP system that is slowing down the roll out.
Basically delays upon delays with dates pushed further and further back…
Nothing more needs to be really said on the matter as the situation and history speak volumes thus far – and will do so for a while longer to come…
I caught this article in the NZ Herald yesterday on my so-called favourite second topic: Auckland Transport. Actually two articles caught my attention and I seriously wonder if I am having a case of De-ja-vu here in regards to Auckland‘s Transport.
The two articles of notice were these ones, both from Mathew Dearnaley:
Starting with “Public transport decline threat to future funding,” this is what had to be said:
From the NZ Herald
Public transport decline threat to future funding
Auckland’s public transport patronage continues to languish.
Trip numbers over the past 12 months ended 3.3 per cent lower than for the previous year.
Patronage to August 31 amounted to 69.2 million passenger trips, down from the previous annual figure of 71.5 million, according to a report to Auckland Transport’s board yesterday.
Trains accounted for the largest proportional loss, down 7.5 per cent to 10.1 million trips, despite the added contribution of the new Manukau line.
Even so, rail is starting to show a slight recovery, after its annual patronage drop from almost 11 million trips.
It notched up just over a million trips last month, 1.7 per cent higher than in August last year, despite one fewer business day.
But much more is needed, making a promised new fares strategy all the more pressing.
The Government requires Auckland Transport to have almost doubled its annual patronage to 20 million trips by 2020 before it will accelerate its 50 per cent funding for the city’s $2.86 billion underground rail project.One encouraging statistic is an improvement in punctuality. Close to 89 per cent of trains arrived at their final destinations in August within five minutes of scheduled times, up from a 12-month average of 86.2 per cent.
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Just a quick note; going back over the Prime Minister’s speech in regards to that 20 million figure it was also stated that if AT could show around 8% growth in rail patronage year in year out then the Government would look at starting the CRL around 2018.
To the main matter though what is seriously going on and why does this issue keep popping up.
Regular and historic readers of Talking Auckland would have read here at the blog of the ups and downs we have had with Auckland Transport. At the same time there has been copious amounts of (and not solely from the blog either): public flaying, constructive criticism, submissions, feedback, presentations to committees, lobbying and even meetings to try to offer what assistance once can give to help get our public transport systems (especially rail) back on track.
The results? Two fold:
Still from the NZ Herald piece:
Trains accounted for the largest proportional loss, down 7.5 per cent to 10.1 million trips, despite the added contribution of the new Manukau line.
Even so, rail is starting to show a slight recovery, after its annual patronage drop from almost 11 million trips.
…
Even there the recovery is at risk of stalling again.
So what to do folks because I am now seriously lost after nearly two years of trying. Anything that would get patronage realistically back up gets shunned while anything that would be a detriment to patronage happens (otherwise patronage would not have slipped as far as it has).
$3.3b by the time the project gets started and there is a risk of a further blow out – owing to history some of our civic projects. This was noted in the Herald article “Rail delays threaten big blowout.”
I am sure I have said the Rail Fallacy would occur with the City Rail Link using comparisons from other projects overseas – and I could still end up being correct despite earlier ridicule on the matter. The Rail Fallacy Commentary previously mentioned on Talking Auckland can be found here: https://voakl.net/tag/rail-fallacy/
Do I want the Rail Fallacy to occur with the City Rail Link though? HECK NO! But pragmatism and harsh reality I must also bear in mind – kind of like risk management. The Rail Fallacy acknowledgement in part was me running a crude risk management exercise across multiple levels on the CRL. At least this way I knew/know the risks and can adapt for it accordingly where required.
Put it this way, at least if (political) reality bites and The Rail Fallacy does happen I was certainly most prepared – unlike others. I would also say this was good business sense in play too.
In the end though unless Auckland Transport pulls finger I am going to struggle to see how the CRL will not start until 2020. Oh and for those like ATB who might put their faith in the EMU’s. Having flash new trains will provide some kick but not the silver bullet needed to bring the CRL forward to 2018. No amount of new rolling stock will counter: getting stuck behind the increasing amount of freight trains with out the third line fully complete, fare products not lined up properly and missing simple links such as the Manukau Rail South Link to attract more actual patronage. So again AT needs to pull finger and get the right things done – no excuses.
Final remark
Trains accounted for the largest proportional loss, down 7.5 per cent to 10.1 million trips, despite the added contribution of the new Manukau line.
Hmmm – waiting for that South Link that will feed real numbers in the Manukau Line and station… Lets try and not keep the wards of Manurewa/Papakura and Franklin waiting much longer please AT. There is a pent up demand waiting for a direct service from Pukekohe/Papakura to Manukau via the South Link and some modelling I ran estimates that 20 minute, 7 day a week services using that link would mean patronage levels rivalling our Ellersile and Glen Innes Stations. So lets try and get this built in the upcoming Christmas Block of Lines – okay – please.
Constructive Criticism of The Southern Initiative I was out West yesterday while the Auckland Plan Committee met today in Town Hall (for the final time of this Council Term). What … Continue reading The Southern Initiative – Why it Needs Geographers
As we know, Manukau is in the pipeline for receiving Te Papa’s Auckland facility after a joint announcement by the Minister of Arts and the Mayor of Auckland. Interestingly enough the harshest of critics towards the facility in Manukau would be the ones who would naturally support – although apparently they prefer Wynyard Quarter.
However, their claims can be easily refuted by either (or all of) one of three counter-claims:
I have further commentaries on the positives of Te Papa coming to Manukau in my respective three posts:
Just a reminder to readers that the Te Papa North Facility is not just housing Te Papa. It is in fact a joint facility with: Te Papa, Auckland War Memorial Museum, and The Auckland Art Gallery all operating out of the Manukau facility. I also believe there will be storage and research operations carried out at the facility as well.
So with Te Papa North on the way to Manukau this might be a good time to really start looking at restoring the love to the Manukau City Centre area.
Those following the Manukau Super Metropolitan Centre concept commentary know that there are active efforts (from my end at least) to bring the Manukau City Centre out from its 1960’s auto-centric past, into a 21st Century people-centric city.
Te Papa North is another cog in the great machine to “restoring the love” (as Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse said) to the heart of Southern Auckland and my home (probably why some of the more astute readers can see an emotional attachment from me here).
But no amount of urban renewal in Manukau will work until we get the place flipped over from ‘Car-First’ to ‘People-First.’ By that I mean making the streets people (and cyclist) friendly.
To flip streets over into people friendly shared spaces can be done in small steps on bit at a time. Auckland Transport are already starting with Davis Avenue in making that pro-people (rather than pro-car).
Once Davis Avenue is done my next recommendation would be Ronwood Avenue that runs east-west through the heart of the Manukau City Centre Area.
This gallery shows what I am referring to:
You can see narrow lanes going each way with on-street parking and very wide grass centre medians on Ronwood Avenue. Traffic volumes vary depending what is going on at the two roundabouts at the west end and in the centre of Ronwood Avenue.
Basically what you do is transplant what Auckland Transport has done to Davis Avenue over to the entire length (except for the small piece at the Great South Road end which can stay as is) and drop the speed limit to 30km/h. If you go one step further you could turn the pieces of this upgraded Ronwood Avenue in to Shared Zones like Fort Street in the CBD. One thing though is that depending on the new bus routings from Auckland Transport, Ronwood Avenue might need one or two bus stops to allow buses to exchanges passengers who might not want to go to the upcoming Manukau interchange.
Once Ronwood Avenue is complete with its upgrade my next choice would be Sharkey Street that connects to Ronwood Avenue (and Cavendish Drive). After that then we can look at some of the rat-runner roads like Cavendish Drive and Lambie Drive and get them more transit and people friendly then they are now. After that I think we start hitting some of the existing building sites in the Manukau City Centre area and bring those sites into the 21st Century as pro people not pro car sites.
One small step at a time. While others might have abandoned Manukau for flights of (elitist) fancy such as Wynyard Quarter and dumping literally everything of worth and value in the CBD, small steps are being taken in restoring the jewel in the crown of Southern Auckland – the place its people call “home.”
I have been watching the developments of this since it broke into the Main Stream Media recently. This being the Serious Fraud Office poised to investigate Auckland Transport after irregularities its consequences spill from AT to now the main Council.
The most recent piece from the NZ Herald:
Senior council workers in probe
By Bevan Hurley
A corruption inquiry at Auckland Transport has widened as a manager under suspicion has gone on sick leave.
The senior staff member is one of at least three Auckland Transport employees to have their computers seized as part of an internal inquiry into roading contracts.
The Serious Fraud Office is poised to step in. The usual $2-million threshold for an SFO inquiry would not be required due to the high public interest, a spokeswoman said.
Auckland Transport manager Murray Noone was fired last week after an internal investigation found “serious conflict-of-interest and performance issues”.
Noone was running a private consultancy business, Preside Consulting, while working for Auckland Transport.
Auckland Council member Wayne Walker said serious questions around contracts to large contractors had been raised. “The tendering process is increasingly shutting out the small and medium-size players,” he said.
…
You can read the rest over at the Herald site.
My only comment to this mess over at Auckland Transport is this: “Why-o-why?” It does not make life easy for the small or medium fellows that is for sure. And the saying goes: Bigger is not always better.
Yesterday Mayor Len Brown and Auckland Transport head Dr Lester Levy unveiled our brand new first Electric train at the new Wiri Depot.
I will let Matt from Auckland Transport Blog do all the “speaking” from his experience yesterday at the event: Our First Electric Train.
What I will make mention of is the planned roll out of the new EMU’s across the Auckland network over the next two-year period. From ATB who got it from Auckland Transport:
Essentially from what I have learnt (and this can change so Auckland Transport if I do have this next bit wrong can you let me know and I shall correct it ASAP) this will be the roll out plan Line by Line:
The roll out of the EMU’s is the following:
1) Onehunga Line
2) Manukau Line
3) Southern Line and Eastern Line
4) Western Line
5) Pukekohe (this is dependent on when Pukekohe gets electrified (if it is done by the end of next year then Pukekohe will join the Southern and Eastern Lines at number 3)
The Onehunga Line was chosen first as it is the shortest line to test the new EMUs on. Then the Manukau Line is next soon after that.
The reason those two lines were chosen first was two-fold:
1) Retire the ADK class DMUs from the fleet first up
2) Free up the ADL DMU’s for Pukekohe runs and extra Southern Line runs
The West is last as they have the DFT 6-car sets which hold the most passengers in the diesel fleet. As more EMU’s come on stream the DC-4 (and 5) car sets will be sent west to add more frequency until all the EMU’s are here to replace them.
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Of course with Pukekohe due to be electrified (and two new stations added in that area (Drury and Paerata), the City Rail Link on its way, the Mt Roskill Spur Line under active consideration, and the Manukau Rail South Link due to be reported on in November I think Auckland might want to be taking another option of 15 more EMU’s to give some residual capacity (especially if we start top-and-tailing the consists to get EMU-6 car sets). But I suppose we will have to wait and see what “options” Auckland Transport take on more EMU’s.
In any case, can not wait to ride on these new machines once they are in operation from Papakura.
Work Carries on Behind the Scenes An update of where things are heading with advancing a #SuperManukau With the Local Government Elections under way until October 12 (election day) … Continue reading Update On #SuperManukau
Talking Southern Auckland 