Free Station? No Auckland Transport decides to go screw the scrum I noticed Papakura Courier’s Dubby Henry and Papakura Local Board member Brent Catchpole were around the Walters Road rail-crossing … Continue reading Auckland Transport Screws South Auckland (Again?)
Auckland Transport has sent out a flyer alerting passengers of rail buses replaces rail services south of Otahuhu Station every Sunday to Thursday from now until to further notice. This allows Kiwi Rail continue much-needed electrification works that have fallen behind.
Here is the timetable
Lets see if Kiwi Rail can get the work done. Be a bit of a bugger if the Onehunga and Western Lines were complete but no wires in operation to the EMU depot further south in Wiri. Ooops
Pragmatism and Compromise Wins the Day With Manukau Just a quick mention to Strategy and Finance Committee Chair – Councillor Penny Webster after some concerns on voting pragmatically … Continue reading Success with Manukau North Link
The Herald ran an article this morning on the Auckland Rail Electrification Project coming into its final stretches:
From the NZH:
$1.1b electric rail upgrade on track
5:30 AM Thursday Jan 3, 2013Last big summer shut-down puts finishing touches to network, and new trains are on target for April next year.
Auckland’s $1.14 billion rail electrification project is chugging into the home straight, ready for the arrival in September of the first of 57 zippier and quieter trains.
KiwiRail is using its last big summer shutdown of the region’s rail network to rearrange tracks at Britomart and two other locations before spinning the final segments of an electrical web which by August will cover about 85km of lines from central Auckland to Papakura in the south and Swanson in the northwest.
It is enlarging the “throat” between Britomart’s approach tunnel and the underground station’s five platforms for extra train crossover points to be installed in a four-week shutdown of the eastern and Newmarket lines, and has been laying new bypass tracks at Otahuhu and Papakura during a two-week region-wide closure to minimise conflicts between freight and increased passenger services on an electrified network.
The state-owned company has also been taking advantage of the shutdown since Christmas, during which buses have replaced trains, to string electric lines on masts already erected between Papakura and Otahuhu on the southern line.
You can read the rest of the article over at the Herald site.
However while the EMU’s are nearly here it is these two particular comments I want to focus on that caught my attention:
From the same article:
Mayor Len Brown says the arrival of the trains will be “a huge step on the path towards the kind of integrated transport system an international city like Auckland needs”.
He believes the electric units – which will have greater acceleration and braking power than the existing diesel fleet – will make rail patronage “rocket” and create even more pressure for a 3.5km underground rail extension from Britomart to Mt Eden.
Followed by this from Councillor Mike Lee:
But council transport chairman and veteran electrification campaigner Mike Lee believes the new trains will not be enough to boost flagging patronage unless they are supported by general service improvements, notably far better punctuality and extended weekend timetables, without prohibitive fare rises.
“I would not bank on electric trains in themselves fixing chronic underlying human management problems,” he said.
Although he was preparing to pop champagne corks last year in expectation of overtaking Wellington’s annual rail patronage of 11.3 million passenger trips, he is bitterly disappointed by a fall from a record 10.98 million trips in Auckland for the 12 months to April – a figure boosted by the 2011 Rugby World Cup – to little over 10 million by November.
That would be correct from the Councillor; looking at the 2012 rail patronage statistics from August you can see a levelling off of rail patronage growth before a noticeable drop start occurring in the last quarter of 2012 – to the point one could say it is ‘back sliding.’ I can go into a thesis on the back-sliding of the rail patronage but that would be extremely counter-productive to the situation and rather not needed! However again, Councillor Lee has the point with rail patronage – especially the parts in bold.
And I agree with Councillor Mike Lee’s assessment on the EMU’s not being the magic bullet for our rail ills before us. Sure they might go a small distance for the rail system but not the patronage rocket as the mayor might expect.
There is still a lot more work to be done on the existing rail infrastructure (commentary being covered in the Rail Efficiency Program series) and on the operation side (timetables, service runs, integration with bus services, fares, etc.). These improvements need to be done before the CRL if we plan to reinstall any confidence back into the Auckland public with our rail network , otherwise the CRL will suffer the same confidence crisis as the existing infrastructure does now.
My previous post: TO BETTER (AUCKLAND’S) TRANSPORT had a brief recap on the Rail Efficiency Program and an embed from America on the value of investing in “current” infrastructure before going head first into new infrastructure. I recommend strongly reading the “The Virtues of Investing in Transportation” By LAURA D’ANDREA TYSON as it is a very good example on what we should be doing first before embarking on Mayoral Flights of Fancy… (the idea is not to make The Rail Fallacy come true)
While I have my Regional Public Transport Plan hearing in front of Auckland Transport next month, I might get a bit proactive now and restart lobbying the Rail Efficiency Program before the elections kick in in September/October.
Seems I will have my work cut out this year – that is for sure.
So light at the end of the tunnel? Yes but not quite a close as the mayor might think – just yet
Shining The Light – To a Better Papakura (OUR home)
AND
To a Better Auckland – (OUR City)
Auckland 2013: YOUR CITY – YOUR CALL
November 7, I had posted in my “WHEELS OF PROGRESS CONTINUE TO TURN” post how the Auckland Council Transport Committee resolved to pass a motion on moving along with the Manukau South Rail Link:
Today I took a quick look over and found the UNCONFIRMED Minutes (they will not be confirmed until the next Transport Committee meeting next month) of November’s meeting and found the resolutions in regards to the Manukau South Link:
For those who hate scrolling here is the motion and resolution here:
Transport Committee – 07 November 2012
Minutes – Page 58 Notices of Motion
- 8.1 Notice of Motion
Cr GS Wood to move:
- That the Transport Committee: Requests Auckland Transport to give a high priority to the installation of a south facing rail link between the Manukau Spur Line and the North Island Main Trunk Line at Wiri so that this connection can be in place by the time that electrification of the Auckland Metro rail system occurs.
Resolution number TRAN/2012/93
MOVED by Cr GS Wood, seconded Cr M Lee:
That the Transport Committee:
- a) Receives the Notice of Motion by Cr George Wood: “Requests Auckland Transport to give a high priority to the installation of a south facing rail link between the Manukau Spur Line and the North Island Main Trunk Line at Wiri so that this connection can be in place by the time that electrification of the Auckland Metro rail system occurs.”
- b) Notes that rail construction is the responsibility of KiwiRail.
- c) Requests that Council officers consult with Auckland Transport (and the relevant Local Boards) and report back on the cost and benefits and strategic priority of a Manukau Branch line south facing connector in relation to other outstanding rail projects.
CARRIED
And so we wait as the wheels of the bureaucracy turn as the Benefit Cost Ration, as well as the strategic priority finding of the Manukau South Link get drawn up. It is a start as the Committee could have rejected the motion outright thus effectively burying the link for a very long time. I will keep the correspondence to the Transport Committee going seeking regular updates on how the planning is going for this crucial line.
I will also keep readers here at BR:AKL updated on any progress as well.
Manukau to Papakura Direct Rail Link is Dead Well it seems South Auckland is about to get shafted yet again by hopeless planning that Auckland is extremely famous for … Continue reading South Auckland Gets Shafted – Yet Again
As mentioned in my SUBMISSION TO RPTP post, my submission is currently being written in response to Auckland Transport‘s call for feedback on the Regional Public Transport Plan:
Have Begun Writing Submission to Regional Public Transport Plan
As mentioned in the ALL THINGS PUBLIC TRANSPORT, Auckland Transport has released the Regional Public Transport Plan for public submissions. I have read the 138 pages of the RPTP document and have begun writing my submission to the plan. My submission will be covering five main points on the RPTP which will be further reinforced in the subsequent hearings panel afterwards – the points being:
- Lack of direct Manukau to Papakura South Rail Link from Manukau Station
- Constructive Criticism and Praise to Chapter Five – Key Directions which looks at the proposed network (and services) through to 2022
- Chapter 6.4 – Fares and Ticketing. Specially my counter proposal around zone fares and pricing
- Chapter 6.5 – Infrastructure of the physical Public Transport network and facilities (building on from my submissions to The Auckland, and Long Term Plans)
- Chapter 6.6 – Customer Service Interface – and how best it can be used and improved for a clean,easy, efficient and “happy” portal for customer service interactions
I will endeavour to keep a running commentary as I write my submission and get it in by the deadline of Monday 4th November 2012…
I have completed Point Three: Fares and Ticketing. That part of my submission is around introducing zonal fares rather that fares based on distance travelled, coupled with suggestive fares public transport passengers would be charged. You will be able to see the full submission as I send it to AT once I have completed it.
And so I move onto the next part which is Points One and Four: The Lack of direct Manukau to Papakura South Rail Link from Manukau Station; and Chapter 6.5 – Infrastructure of the physical Public Transport network and facilities (building on from my submissions to The Auckland, and Long Term Plans).
In regards to the lack of a direct link from Manukau to Papakura; I will continue to lobby and advocate to Auckland Transport on getting a firm timeline of completion for that link. As I have commented in the past here at BR:AKL (formerly VOAKL) Manukau Station is handicapped by access and pathetically low patronage due to a lack of a direct link from Papakura to the station. In my experience, the bulk of your peak and off-peak passengers (regardless of the tertiary institution campus being built on top) to and from Manukau come from your: Homai, Manurewa, Papakura and Pukekohe stations. Currently the passengers from the south have to catch a train and go as far as Puhinui Station before transferring to Manukau from Britomart service (it is vice versa if leaving Manukau and wanting to go back south) which runs hourly in the off-peak and weekends, and around 20-30mins in the morning and afternoon peaks.
To me this is unacceptable to which I actually put the blame on Auckland Council and the former Manukau City Council rather than Auckland Transport. Auckland Transport got lugged with the Manukau mess so I am strongly recommending to AT to help clean up the situation and pressure Kiwi Rail to build that South Link by 2018!
In regards to the infrastructure point, I am basically looking at rail and bus stations in regards to: facilities on the stations, ease of access, whether Park and Rides should be build adjacent to the said stations, and whether the tough call needs to be made in closing down or relocating stations for better patronage and access to the travelling public. I will also investigate looking in establishing a light rail system that spans the Waterfront to St Heliers Bay along with running up and down Dominion Road as far as Lynfield. Now I said investigate as Light Rail was part of my Auckland Water-Frontier proposal especially around Wynyard Quarter, so I will “see” if this system can be expanded further in its reach and access. Now if anything, this part of the submission and the fares part will be the most prickly in the hearings with AT after I submit my submission (unless AT really take to task my points on the Customer Service Interface – and how best it can be used and improved for a clean,easy, efficient and “happy” portal for customer service interactions knowing how err sensitive our CCO can be).
But at the end of the day I am submitting fair and balanced, but constructive feedback to Auckland Transport on their RPTP. There will be no defaming, there will be no harsh negative comments. Any thing I do constructive criticise will have ideas, proposals and alternatives from what I believe can make our public transport submission better.
My RPTP, along with all other submissions I have done to Auckland Council or Auckland Transport (Auckland Plan, Long Term Plan, CBD Parking Regime Change, City Centre Master Plan, the Regional Land Transport Plan, soon the Unitary Plan, and currently the Regional Public Transport Plan) form my policy platform (extending on my What I Stand For fundamentals) as well as I stand as a candidate for Papakura Local Board in next year’s Local Government Elections – for a Better Auckland.
Updates will continue as I continue to write the submission to the RPTP
Shining The Light –
To a Better Auckland
Auckland 2013: YOUR CITY – YOUR CALL
Talking Southern Auckland 