I just hope that Saturday night’s transport debacle stimulates some real thinking about Auckland’s transport. The fingerpointing is out: bigger crowds than expected, alcohol, idiots pushing the emergency stop button, though that happened at the U2 concernt and should have been factored in.
But a world class event being held with a third world train system lies at the heart of the problem. When can Aucklanders finally see a world class transport system like other cities of our size? Not with the rear-visionary Steven Joyce in charge.
Other than adding a few more electric trains to the current order, there have been no new rail initiatives announced by this government – except for pouring a bucket of cold water on the Coucil’s inner city link. Without it we can’t expand the system including running trains to the airport – something that Aucklanders see as a top priority and a symbol of us joining other smart cities – because the network will not run frequently enough without a link.
So hopefully Saturday’s failings – in the midst of a great, great opening – will get Joyce out of his yesterday’s thinking and support the Council rather than white-anting its plans.
This has nothing to do with Joyce. It was caused by ideologically driven council planners, trying to force people do the politically correct thing.
Next time leave to the engineers. Planning Fail.
In contrast Sydney’s existing railway service was more or less as it is today by the time the city’s population was 1.6 million.
There are problems with Sydney Rail – but it worked brilliantly during the 2000 Olympics and was a credit to Australia.
That’s the story David. Plan for the extreme not the usual. We will already have one white elephant in Auckland after the RWC finishes, in Eden Park. In actual fact there were plenty of trains and buses available on Friday night, it was the logistical operation of the resources that failed, not the quantity or standard available.
Maybe the rail system should have been sorted out by the government in power when the RWC host was announced.
As a recent migrant, when I first flew to Auckland I made a naive enquiry where the train station was, which caused much laughter with the staff at the airport information desk.
But the joke is on New Zealand; it is truly shocking to everyone that there is no decent infrastructure to be found in this country, all of which contributes to its ‘backward’ reputation, which has been exacerbated by recent events whilst the world looks on.
You’re not suggesting we design the train system to meet the needs of an event only held every 30 years are you?
Why encourage people to use it when it was known there were problems? The roads seemed to work fine.
As a side issue, maybe the business case for improved rail and bus services can now be made.
People didn’t seem to have an issue with catching trains / buses as opposed to driving; it’s just that logistically, the service wasn’t up to the demand and the planning was woefully inadequate.
Transport fail
it was the logistical operation of the resources that failed, not the quantity or standard available.
As a relative bystander to the debacle, that’s how it looked to me too. Badly thought through contingency planning for emergency situations.
@gn
Ideologically driven? So the same number of people taking their vehicles with the hope of getting into the CBD would have had a better outcome? I am not so sure…
As best i can tell, the trains worked perfectly on saturday.
As i ubderstand it, the system collapsed on Friday…
Small point i know but please try and get the details right when flinging mud.
The details may bore trev but they dont bore me.
As a daily Auckland rail commuter I can tell you this is 100% Veolia mismanagement. I deal with this sort of nonsense on a daily basis! regularly having services cancelled because of delays etc.
There were spare rail carriages sitting in their “docks” on the day,when they should all have been connected up. All services should have been running 6carriages, which is the max the Auckland platforms can handle. Having some with only 2off Carriages is just inexcusable!
Sorry but you cant do the political party blame-game here, this was the rail managements coys responsibility, for which they receive $35mil/year to “manage”.
Veolia heads need to Roll….
This issue lies with the Auckland Council and their transport organisation which appears to be stacked with friends of yours Mr Shearer put there by your Mayor. The problem with Politicians like yourself is that you are stuck in the past and assume that voters don’t access news in a myriad ways and are aware of issues and their background. The Auckland transport was a ‘train wreck’ waiting to happen. Len Brown take a bow.
“Veolia Transport Auckland is part of the worldwide Veolia Transdev group, which is committed to setting a high global standard for passenger transport, encouraging the development of sustainable mobility solutions around the world.”
It seems everyone except Aucklanders werent expecting so many people at the Viaduct and out and about for the RWC, including those who serve Aucklanders.
Is this an example of a public private partnership?
I dont think one polictical party (in the last 30 years) can hold their heads high over Auckland’s public transport and frankly Mr Joyce must be chuckling for the great advertisement for using roads.
New Zealanders deserve the best, not second-hand or second-rate and certainly not yesterday’s thinking for our infrastructure State Assets. It’s high time we stopped cringing like colonial underlings and did things for ourselves and for the benefit of all of us and our visitors. Joyce is not Minister of Transport he’s Minister for the roading lobby and behaves like a colonial overlord to the people of NZ, eyes and ears firmly shut to the needs of our country.
New Zealanders certainly do deserve the best, but we have to be able to pay for them too, and there’s the rub.
Look, is there a solitary Aucklander alive and not in a coma who really thought the rail system would work out on Friday? Thought so. Blame game politics is inevitable, particularly from the Tories who now have egg all over their faces, but the deal is pretty simple. Stop the typical Kiwi ‘nickel and dime’ garbage, and build a world class rail system. End of story.
“Blame game politics is inevitable, particularly from the Tories who now have egg all over their faces,”
Why Jennifer? Transport planning takes longer than that, if YOU want to bring politics into it. In the end though Auckland will get what you and other taxpayers and ratepayers decide they can afford. Maybe nickels and dimes is all we can spare at present, and if Auckland wants a Rolls Royce then perhaps a whip-around may solve the problem. I see no egg on faces except for those who rubbished Mayor Robbie’s plan many years ago.
Jem, I’m not sure what part of the network you use daily but I can say that travelling from Papakura to Britmart daily I typically encounter a problem with rail system it only once every 100 trips or so.
The trains (and stations) are typically clean and well lit, and run pretty much to scheduled (certainly much closer to what is published than when I use to catch buses around town). Apart from the frequency of trips and the difficulties surrounding catching them with prams as I had to do on occasion they compare fairly well with the rail systems I used elsewhere in the world.
As for when will Aucklanders be able to be expect a world class rail network the answer is very simple, when they are prepared to pay for one. Until they are it is unlikely that will be any significant change.
Furthermore virtually every discussion I have had with people around the need to improve the rail network everybody accepts that there is a desire for this to occur. However as soon as you point out that to do so there is a need for Aucklanders (and Auckland Rail user in particular) to be prepared to pay more via either taxes or rates. Until Aucklanders are prepared to do this then they can’t expect
@ Richard the First, I seem to recall the Tories and their lapdog ACT mates ramming through the super city under urgency, setting up transport on a ‘way more efficient’ private sector model, and handing it over to their hand-picked buddies to run. Well, turns out they couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery, these private sector wizz-kids. I hope Mayor Brown calls them on it, and it costs them big time. It’s the only language they seem to understand.
Yeehah you tell him jennifer.
Eric @ 12:36pm
Read Jennifer @ 5:38pm and get your facts right mate!
Eric @ 12:36pm
Read Jennifer @ 5:38pm and get your facts right.
Sorry for double entry. Struck problems submitting. There are also problems trying to link to Red Alert. Very slow. Doesn’t seem to apply elsewhere.
Eric says this
“This issue lies with the Auckland Council and their transport organisation which appears to be stacked with friends of yours Mr Shearer put there by your Mayor.”
The Auckland Transport is not stacked by Mayor Brown. How could he when under special provisions rammed through by ‘your man ‘ Hide , Brown could only appoint 2 of 9 directors.
Of the two appointed by Brown, one was Mike Lee and the other was Christine Fletcher who is the leader of the C&R
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10684442
This another of those blatant lies put about by that serial liar and blogger Whaleoil and lapped up by the witless wonders who read his stuff.
The facts are 7 of 9 directors including the Chair and deputy were appointed by Hide and Joyce
It’s a pity the trains had problems
But we do have a govt that’s been in power for 3 years.We do have a member of that govt who is minister of RWC.We do have a minister of “transport” and we do have our most superficial and facile PM ever!
I can’t recall whether RT1 is the Richard from up north who is in favour of the so-called holiday highway because Northlanders are entitled to a quicker trip to places. If that is you Richard, how do you reconcile that with “only if they want to pay for it” because to my knowledge they are not proportionately paying for it?
Mr McCully is suddenly the invisible man. Can I just say, again based on conversations with many popel invovled in top level sports administration that Mr McCully is in no way a hands off Minister, he rules like a dictator needing to rule on everything and then make those below stand up for his decisions.
How come he and Joyce are not marching into the offices of the “private” part of this private/public partnership demanding answers?
@Fred
Well as a Papakura passenger you wouldnt notice any problems, because there are trains to and from papakura every 10min…
I catch the Southern line, Pukehohe to Penrose, which at peak times only runs every 45min.
And at least once a week the 5pm train back to Pukekohe is cancelled, or delayed. There are plenty other Puke commuters out there who will back me on this, as we all generally end up meeting at Papakura station waiting for a bus, taxi or if lucky a train.
The most frustrating thing is there are rarely any announcements tell us what is happening.
As for upgrading and paying for it. The upgrading has begun, and we will start paying 80% extra in fares once the electric system is commissioned.
Excellent blog David- Toss it, turn it, put a pirate eye patch or Herald Editoral on it(really the same thing) but the objective facts remain:
(1)Labour was on a trajectory to a more balanced spend between rail and road in Auckland, not perfect, could have started earlier to make the “stall and rollback” harder, but a good start.
(2) Joyce has not continued that progress (ie has asked to thanked for honouring some existing commitments)while pouring billions into roading projects.
Sydney when it built its network probably didn’t have a one eyed monopoly newspaper that basicly only favoured roads. The NZ Heralds unbalanced and disloyal approach to this issue is part of the problem. Aucklanders have twice made their wishes crystal clear at the ballot box ditching Banks highway and electing the current Mayor. A third such expression is well over due.
Yes it is Tracey, and you misrepresent the reasons that this road upgrade is necessary. I don’t propose to go into the basics of essential national road access and communication again, but state highways are just that, paid for by the state. Civic railway networks are not. So there is no reconciliation argument to be made. I am sure that you are wiser than your comment intimates.
Just remember that National have been in govt for 3 years
That’s 3 years that have been responsible and the previous govt haven’t had any more input
It would do our decision makers good to look at Sapporo and see the rail system they put into their city in 1972 for the winter olympics.
Might make you think how relatively small cities can get things done!
I don’t propose to go into the basics of essential national road access and communication again, but state highways are just that, paid for by the state. Civic railway networks are not. So there is no reconciliation argument to be made.
@ RtF
I don’t think it’s quite as clear cut as this though I can see what you are driving at (excuse the pun).
I think the govt would be hard pressed to say that a light rail communter network that could potentially service one third of the population is not in effect a ‘network of national significance’.
An efficeint multi-modal transport service is pretty critical to Auckland’s and therefore New Zealand’s economic wellbeing.
Here’s the quote of the year …
“The network worked on Friday night.”
John Key, speaking in Parliament just now.
Yes, really!
I also heard old sammy’s ‘quote of the year”. Key effectively blamed it on the crowds claiming there was no way anyone could have known so many would turn up.
Codswallop! It was obvious days in advance that the crowd was going to be huge. I also saw what was happening in the Devonport area at lunch-time Friday – rapidly building gridlock from cars trying to get into Devonport to catch a ferry.
Presumably, previous Akld mayor Banks and his council have to take some of the blame for this debacle in terms of allocative, administrative and operational issues related to funding, infrastructure development and inadequate management decisions. If I were David Parker, I would carefully note any adverse findings from the forthcoming report and stockpile them for the Epsom electoral contest…
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/govt-takes-control-auckland-waterfront-4399896
I know this link has been posted on Grant Robertson’s post but I do so again. I’m gobsmacked! The sheer audacity. As Jennifer – and Linda Clark on Radio NZ’s The Panel today have pointed out… McCully has been micro-managing all aspects of the RWC since they took office – even down to what colour jackets etc. the Eden Park officials and general workers would wear.
And now big bully boy is “taking over” as if the silly old Auckland Council and it’s silly old mayor, Len Brown are entirely responsible for the debacle. What’s the bet the MSM will let him get away with it.
Go for the jugular on this one Labour!
Every opportunity Joyce tells us that 80% of Aucklanders use cars and that’s why he needs to build more roads – or make them wider. Then when it comes to RWC, he’s part of the organisation – along with McCully and the Council – who say ‘don’t take the car, use the train’. Well if you divert money into roads, think the Holiday Highway is an excellent value proposition and the inner city rail link is not, then Mr Joyce needs to admit he’s wrong.
@ David, Key told the House today that ‘responsibility for the transport system on Friday is with the Auckland Transport agency’. So, maybe Len Brown should sack the AT board, just like Rodney goaded him to do? Poor old Len is finally learning a valuable lesson about what happens when you try to play with a straight bat with a bunch of Tory mongrels. It’s just in their nature, sadly.
Credit is due to Guyon Espinor on TV1 news. He hasn’t let the govt. off the hook. In fact, his tone of voice this evening suggested (faint) disgust. Let’s see if he’s allowed to keep it up.
@ jennifer
Tory mongrels indeed!
I can’t believe that the Nat lead Govt have failed to sort out Akls transport mess .. gee, they have had nearly 3 years to do it .. what’s going on??
@jabba – true
!
Some things to remember: the only reason the last Labour Govt agreed to electrification of Akl rail network was because they needed Green Party support.
RT1 the thing that concerns me is that the lines are not as clear as you suggest. Auckland has 1.5m of the country and is the heart of commerce and employment. That really does make it a national issue to at least some degree. This Govt and past Govts have dismissed the idea of expanding ports up north and actively trying to increase employment opportunities, therefore the “national” or “state” requirement for the highway is less pronounced than you suggest, so I do believe the comments need to be reconciled.
For those interested in the media as an instrument of policy have a peek here
http://www.scottlondon.com/reports/frames.html
@Anne – in response to your rather classless joy over the “tory mongrels” jibe – I would point out this: if Labour are to, as you tastelessly put it “Go for the jugular…..” you may be disappointed. Being attacked by Labour is “like being savaged by a dead sheep”. It may feel warm and fuzzy, but it never has any real effect.
@Sofstarter – “Some things to remember: the only reason the last Labour Govt agreed to electrification of Akl rail network was because they needed Green Party support.” Very true, anything that has the need for lunatic fringe dwellers like the Greens is enough to turn any sensible person away.
Oh Dave: so you think you will upset me by inferring I lack class?
LOL
!