There'll be no train rides in Auckland this Waitangi Day long weekend, with the city's rail network shut down tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. File photo / Greg Bowker
There'll be no train rides in Auckland this Waitangi Day long weekend, with the city's rail network shut down tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. File photo / Greg Bowker
The patience of Auckland’s long-suffering train users is again being tested, with the city’s rail network to be shut down through the Waitangi Day long weekend.
It’s the latest in “an ongoing inconvenience” that must end when the City Rail Link [CRL] opens, a public transport advocate says.
All fourof the city’s passenger lines – the Southern, Eastern, Western and Onehunga – are closed today, tomorrow and Sunday, with services not restarting until the working week begins on Monday.
“It’s an ongoing inconvenience to public transport users, and we really need to see the end of this happening”, said Public Transport Users’ Association national co-ordinator Jon Reeves.
“We certainly hope that AT [Auckland Transport] and KiwiRail have this all sorted out not to happen once the City Rail Link’s open, because we’re expecting a huge surge in new passengers once that opens, and we cannot have ongoing massive closures like this.”
The City Rail Link, including new stations such as Te Waihorotiu (pictured) in central Auckland's midtown area, is expected to open later this year. Photo / Michael Craig
Auckland Council-controlled Auckland Transport is responsible for the city’s transport services, and state-owned KiwiRail is responsible for New Zealand’s rail network, including tracks and maintenance.
The Waitangi long weekend closure comes after Auckland rail services were stopped between late December and late last month for a “last big push of track upgrades and key maintenance” in preparation for the CRL opening, AT wrote on social media on Boxing Day.
Rail users in our largest city are long used to weeks-long summer closures for maintenance, but this has been compounded in recent years, with sometimes months-long disruption and repeated holiday and ordinary weekend closures for projects such as the Rail Network Rebuild and other works needed for the multibillion-dollar CRL.
The Waitangi long weekend closure was to allow Auckland Transport to “continue delivering critical infrastructure updates needed to open the City Rail Link (CRL) later this year”, the organisation wrote on Facebook this week.
“This long weekend includes ongoing upgrades at Henderson Station, including a third platform and progressing on building safe and accessible pedestrian bridges at Takaanini, Te Mahia and Glen Innes.”
Workers pictured installing new train tracks during earlier upgrades to Auckland's Rail Network in 2024. Photo / KiwiRail
Rail replacement buses would be available, and users could plan their journeys at at.govt.nz/journeyplanner , AT wrote.
“Thanks for your patience while we upgrade your rail network, and get it ready for City Rail Link opening in the second half of 2026.”
The frustration of rail users was easily found in the post’s comments section, with several people suggesting the council’s transport arm switch to alerts for when services are running.
“There should be an AT app that gives you a notification when your train line is actually working,” one wrote.
Another wrote: “Did they not literally just restart them the other day??!!”, accompanied by a facepalm emoji.
It was time for KiwiRail to “take a leaf out of other rail organisations overseas” and how they kept busy, suburban commuter rail networks running despite upgrades and repairs, said Reeves, the public transport advocate.
He cited cities in Japan and Switzerland as showing how it could be done.
“Somehow KiwiRail thinks it’s acceptable in New Zealand and in Auckland, but it’s not.”
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
