Urinals in a wedding foyer, a drug-fuelled B&B bender and a jewellery heist

Auckland's rail service needs someone to keep it on track Aucklanders using trains have been getting on board in astonishingly growing numbers since the nadir of the that year, only 1 million trips were made on a ramshackle collection of old carriages and diesel engines, before the tentative start of Auckland rail renaissance.]( Several billion dollars and 17 years later, more than 22 million trips were made on an electrified, mostly double-tracked network with world-class trains, stations and electronic ticketing, up to early 2020. Any number of politicians and transport officials over recent years have lauded their own and their predecessors foresight in spending large – “build it and they will come” became the mantra. Where are they all now, as a seemingly endless string of track failures dog reliability and test the patience of passengers who made only 9.2 million trips in the year to March 2021, a fall of around 60 per cent from the peak. Much of that was [due to Covid-19 lockdowns,]( and more people working from home, but rail didn’t ride the resurgence wave like other forms of public transport, due to its own major track maintenance shutdowns. When the major parts of $200m of disruptive urgent track replacement seemed to be over, and Auckland Transport looked forward to a patronage upswing, the next worn-out tracks failed, [prompted a safety slowdown of trains]( part of the southern line. Billions continue to flow into Auckland’s commuter rail system, [the $4.4 billion city rail link,]( electrifying Papakura to Pukekohe, and in just a fortnight, the opening of the $69m Puhinui Station. [Puhinui is the hub to connect rail]( with express east-west buses, with the airport at one end. When the ribbon [is cut at the end of July,]( by a bevvy of politicians and officials, passengers are more likely to cheer – God willing – that the month-long disruption to services passing the station will have ended. What is missing in all this, is any sense that Auckland’s political leaders are doing their bit – not to only show solidarity with long-suffering commuters, but also to demonstrate that they are on the case, making sure that the best that can be done, is being done. The system is fragmented. Auckland Transport owns the train fleet, and pays KiwiRail for access to the state-owned enterprise’s network, to help pay for its upkeep. Multi-national TransDev runs the trains. The interdependent relationships seem to make table-thumping difficult. We know that building and expanded network will hit weekends and off-peak periods for years, at least [until the City Rail Link is finished around 2024,]( or a bit beyond. But what can Auckland rail passengers, or those who want to get on board, expect services to look like through the intervening period? Has the cause of the wear and failure of Auckland’s track network really been found, and is it being upgraded as fast as possible, or is the size of the allocated upgrade budget a problem? Building a multi-billion urban rail network is not a political triumph. Building a network that works properly, that attracts passengers in sufficient numbers to deem it a success, is. No doubt speeches will be written for the opening of Puhinui Station in late July. The mayor Phil Goff is already energised. “It will help to address congestion and is another step in the creation of Auckland’s 21st century transport network,” he said in a media release look ahead to it. Long-suffering rail passengers will want to hear more. That someone is making sure that their commuting experience matches what is says on the timetable box. Build it, and the train will come, on time. Read more about that here [Read more]( [Fowlie said it had ruined the wedding which they had been planning for more than a year.]( When Margaret Fowlie​ wanted to double-check her venue was ready for her wedding this Saturday, [she found toilets and urinals lying in the foyer](. Two days out from her wedding, the bride-to-be was scrambling to find a new place to tie the knot after she discovered Papatoetoe Town Hall was in the middle of renovations. [Auckland's Huia Water Treatment Plant approved because of 'public good', despite opposition]( [Home detention: Hosts' horror at offender's 'drug-fuelled bender']( [Top girls' school teacher investigated for sexual relationship with student]( [Michael Hill thieves likely made off with $100k in jewellery and watches]( You've received this email because you have opted in to receive Your Auckland from Stuff Did a friend forward this to you? [Sign up to get Your Auckland]( to your inbox [Unsubscribe]( [Newsletter Settings]( [Privacy Policy]( [Advertise]( [Feedback](