Auckland mayor Len Brown says a recent jump in the number of passengers on Auckland’s rail network bodes well for the planned City Rail Link project.
New Zealand’s most populated city recorded 13.4 million passenger trips on rail over the past 12 months, an increase of 21% over the previous period. 1.6 million trips were recorded in March alone, a year-on-year increase of 29%.
“At this rate, Auckland will meet the Government’s threshold for financial support for the CRL three years early in 2017,” Brown said. “Growth has been accelerating since late 2013.”
Auckland Transport chairman Dr Lester Levy said the growth is due to the gradual replacement of diesel trains with new electric models, which is contributing to an enhanced travel experience, additional capacity and increased service frequency on the network.
“We’re moving to speed up the roll-out of the electric trains because we know Aucklanders want the extra capacity and the improved service that they provide,” Dr Levy said.
Auckland Transport is aiming to have a full electric network by the end of July except for the link between Papakura and Pukekohe which will continue to use diesel trains.
These will be refurbished over time to provide an enhanced experience, according to the authority.
Including other forms of transport, annual public transport patronage in Auckland now exceeds 78 million boardings, with 8.4 million recorded in March – a jump of more than 1 million year-on-year.
AT Metro general manager Mark Lambert said the new timetable introduced to the Auckland rail network in December 2014 resulted in a 20% increase in services, but said this did result in a number of delays across the “constrained” network, which made it “difficult to recover when there is an issue”.
“We are working with the rail operator Transdev to speed-up the recovery time when unfortunately inevitable failures occur,” he said.
Lambert said an increase in bus passengers in Auckland was attributed to increased services and frequency, improving travel times from new bus priority lanes, and a significant improvement in service punctuality.