NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Auckland's rail network being reviewed to see if it can cope with population growth

Bernard Orsman
By Bernard Orsman
Auckland Reporter·NZ Herald·
8 Nov, 2019 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

The review will look at how the network will cope with new trains that have started to arrive in Auckland. Photo / Auckland Transport

The review will look at how the network will cope with new trains that have started to arrive in Auckland. Photo / Auckland Transport

Auckland's struggling rail network is under the microscope to see if it can cope with the city's bulging population.

A series of failures and growing numbers of delays with the current network is raising alarm bells and fears failure to deliver a reliable and resilient network over the next decade will erode public confidence in rail and public transport.

A broken piece of track caused a train derailment inside the underground Britomart station in May last year and the patience of rail passengers is wearing thin with regular faults and cancelled services.

A recent focus by the NZ Transport Agency(NZTA) on maintenace and inspection of the track has found many faults and resulted in speed restricitons and temporary closures on some lines.

READ MORE:
• Auckland light rail: PM says NZTA messed up and caused delays
• Auckland light rail process will drag on past next year
• $94M to upgrade Northland to Auckland rail line announced
• Auckland-Whangarei train lines get $95 million Government lifeline

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The rail network has become a victim of its own success with patronage growing from 2.5 million trips when Britomart opened in 2002 to 17m trips in 2017.

With further investment in the $4.4 billion City Rail Link(CRL), new trains, a third line from Westfield and Wiri and electrification from Papakura to Pukekohe, plus an additional 300,000 people over the next decade, rail use is expected to boom to up to 80m passenger trips a year.

The exciting but challenging future has prompted Auckland Transport to lead a high level review of the city's rail network. KiwiRail, which maintains the network, and Transdev, which runs the trains, are also on board.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
In May last year a train was derailed at Britomart station. Photo / RNZ, Claire Eastham-Farrelly
RNZ
In May last year a train was derailed at Britomart station. Photo / RNZ, Claire Eastham-Farrelly RNZ

The review by Opus is looking at the condition of rail assets, maintenance standards and plans to determine if they are "fit for purpose" for the future.

The engineering consultants are having to factor in the impact of more train services, narrowing gaps between services and what failures mean for commuters.

Discover more

Opinion

Kerre McIvor: Let's hurry up and go slower more quickly

26 Oct 04:00 PM
New Zealand

More than 2000 riders injured, but e-scooters here to stay in Auckland

31 Oct 02:05 AM
New Zealand

Fire on ferry: Firefighters board vessel at sea, crew member with smoke inhalation

01 Nov 01:24 AM
New Zealand|politics

Phil Goff says CCOs could be abolished or downsized

01 Nov 05:20 AM

"It is critical that the railway infrastructure is capable of safely and reliably delivering on this growth.

"Failure to deliver a safe, reliable and resilient network will undermine both the confidence and achievement of the targets that Auckland Transport has for rail and more broadly public transport in Auckland," says a brief for the review.

A draft report of the review, commissioned in April this year, has been received by AT. A final report is due by Christmas. A separate safety report is being prepared by the NZTA.

Mark Lambert, acting AT chief executive, said the review is looking at the current state of the rail track and getting a professional engineering opinion of what work needs to be done, if any, when the CRL opens in 2024 alongside a significant increase in train services.

He said the draft report had not thrown up anything unexpected, but would help package up some upgrade work to apply for funding from NZTA.

The review will look at how stations like Britomart will cope in future. Photo / Michael Craig
The review will look at how stations like Britomart will cope in future. Photo / Michael Craig

"In summary what it really says is the track and infrastructure is currently fit for purpose for the volume of service operating on it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"However, it has recommended that upgrades of track prior to CRL opening and the maintenance regime should be enhanced from the point that we operate more services," Lambert said.

He said AT is looking for more funding, which will come from the NZTA's transitional rail improvements fund.

Mayor Phil Goff supports the review, saying it will help to cost and scope the work required to ensure the future reliability of the track prior to the CRL coming on stream.

"The CRL will double rail capacity and enable a significant increase in services which will necessarily require work to enhance track condition and other 'below-track' improvements on the rail network to support that growth," Goff said.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

Construction

'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

04 Jul 04:00 AM
New Zealand

Afternoon quiz: Which fish is most commonly farmed in New Zealand aquaculture?

04 Jul 03:57 AM
New Zealand

MetService warns Wairoa of heavy rain, possible thunderstorms

04 Jul 02:38 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

'A substantial breach': Builder's work under scrutiny after installing leaky gazebo

04 Jul 04:00 AM

The builder argued there were defects with the gazebo design but the tribunal disagreed.

Afternoon quiz: Which fish is most commonly farmed in New Zealand aquaculture?

Afternoon quiz: Which fish is most commonly farmed in New Zealand aquaculture?

04 Jul 03:57 AM
MetService warns Wairoa of heavy rain, possible thunderstorms

MetService warns Wairoa of heavy rain, possible thunderstorms

04 Jul 02:38 AM
Forestry and footy with Taine Randell on The Country

Forestry and footy with Taine Randell on The Country

04 Jul 02:33 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP