Auckland's once dilapidated rail network reached a milestone today when it recorded 20 million rail trips in one year.
New Lynn's Manjula Singh was presented with a $100 HOP card by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff at Britomart rail station this morning to mark the occasion.
The finance worker, who has been commuting to work on the western line since April, was thrilled to receive the card, saying the train service was better than the traffic jams.
Goff said that back in 2004 just 2.4m passengers used rail, it was now 20m and would reach 30m within three years.
Auckland's rail renaissance is largely due to former Auckland City Mayor Christine Fletcher, who built the $211m Britomart transport centre that opened in 2003, and former Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee, who oversaw electrification of the city's rail network, new and faster electric trains and who began work on the $3.4b city rail link.