Trains will be offline across the Auckland rail network from December 27 to January 28.
KiwiRail says the closure is needed to allow for urgent repairs and maintenance which is needed for the upcoming City Rail Link, set to open in the second half of 2026.
Public Transport Users Association National Coordinator Jon Reeves told Kerre Woodham that shutting down the trains over the summer for maintenance purposes is the classic cliché that's been going on for about 25 years.
He says it's become a bit of a joke, and a different way to make these upgrades needs to be found.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Mornings podcast from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be John, Good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Ah, Merry Christmas, Gary, A.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Very merry Christmas to you. Now. You are the national
coordinator of the Public Transport Users Association, a voluntary organization
that represents current and more importantly, I suppose future users
of public transport. So, as we've been discussing Auckland Transport's
setting up for another month long rail closure. No trains
(00:36):
will be operating for a month between December twenty seven
January twenty eight. What is this going to do? I mean,
I think we accept with that some work needs to
be done and best to do it during the holidays.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah. Well that's the classic cliche that's been going on
for about twenty five years or so since we've been
upgrading the railway system in Auckland, as they use every
summer to close down the services to do upgrades on tracks. However,
to be honest between you and me, it's become a
bit of a joke and we really need to see
a different way of these upgrades happening. We do know
(01:12):
the CRL is opening next year and that is going
to look that really is going to be like the
Oakland Harbor Bridge opening. It's many people can't see what's
going to happen, but within a couple of months of
the CRL opening, it is really going to be quite
a dynamic change to patronage usage and new passengers using
trains in Auckland. But so I know that people you
(01:33):
can be quite skeptical at the moment about what's happening.
I am too, but I still know that it will
be like the Oakland Harbor Bridge and then afterwards we'll think, wow,
we should have built there, you know, years ago. However, yes,
this summer it's going to be pretty bad for rail
users across Auckland.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, I just had Rayon, who as a I would
describe as a reluctant rail user from you haven't heard them,
and he was saying that CRL's that were going to
cannibalize and inconvenience existing train users. Do you accept that?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
No?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Not really? Okay, Well, what it's going to do is
is those three new stations are going to really open
up a whole lot of residents who had never used
trains because there was no railway line open next to
them in the in the CBD. But the other thing
is a lot of people who live to say out west,
take Henderson or Swanson, or even if they extend the
rail commuter rail services to hubay Kumu, which is logical,
(02:26):
those sort the people would be able to jump in
the train and basically get into town fifteen twenty minutes
faster than at present. So at the moment they may
not use the train because it's too slow, But when
you have fifteen or twenty minutes wiped off the journey
time and no parking hassles, suddenly it will look more
attractive when it.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Comes to doing the work that needs to be done,
when are they supposed to do it?
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, look, I've lived in Switzerland where they've done humongous
upgrades make this look like peanuts in comparison, and they
didn't inconvenience the passengers over key summertimes or any well
any time like we do in Auckland. They really worked hard,
but at night times and had very few closures. So
really we need a better way of actually doing these upgrades.
(03:12):
And I think Kiwi Rail and Auckland Transport just seemed
to be devoid of the expertise and knowing how.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
To do it.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I personally, now having lived through some massive upgrades across Switzerland,
I would go and get some Swiss consultants from the
Swiss railways to come here because or Japan railways, where
they never closed down entire lines for a month on end,
they never do that. It's really actually in standard practice.
It's become standard practice and acceptable in Auckland, but it's
(03:39):
not the norm. So really we really need to have
a much smarter system which pretty much relies on a
lot of overnight work with a few closures. For sure,
we always will need something, not a month at at
a time. This bitter b At and ki Rail's last
big closure, because after this it becomes a complete joke
and it's just terrible for a rail users.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I was thinking that I have no real confidence it'll
be the last one.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Do you no, correctly, while we've got the same people
managing a project, managing and reviewing it. While we have
those same people doing it, this is all they know.
I think we need to bring in world experts from outside,
and I would run off the Switzerland or Japan in
a hurry and grab a whole lot of good well
expertise from there. They would know how to do it.
(04:25):
It's devoid here. We don't have the right people with
acknowledge here, and.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yet we pay them two hundred and ninety billion dollars
benefit of expertise.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
They do charge like a wounded bull, which is another issue.
But we we really want to just get better expertise.
And like I said Switzerland, I trust them any day.
Compared to what we have currently.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
They would still have to deal with the RMA, though,
because I've talked to people about the roads and they
say they could get the roads done a whole lot
more quickly. But you've got a couple of people in
farmhouses who say, no, we don't want you working through
the night.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well, let's hope these reforms that come through are replic
a lot of those problems. I trust the politicians are
going to be able to carry through. There's much better
reforms than what the rim is at present, because yes,
it stops everything at the moment. When you look at
other countries and what they build and how fast they
build it and the costs they build it, RIMA has
a lot to ask for for basically ruining New Zealand's
(05:24):
economy and infrastructure development.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
What what is the most important thing about in terms
of getting people to trust public transport is its reliability?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Its safety?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Is it? Yeah? It's reliability, safety, convenient and at a
good price. And I guess the city rail link will
become make it more convenient. Royal at the moment, I
mean there's a fifty dollars cap per week in Auckland,
which is a pretty fair price, you've got to say.
But I mean services do end bit too early in
(06:02):
the evening in Auckland. They generally end around ten thirty
at nine. They should go a bit later for people
actually want to go out and use public transport. Safety
is an issue, and obviously was seeing you look, another
murder on a buses last week, which is another one
because we had one last year as well. So we've
been calling for for quite a few years now. On
deaf is to appear for an actual police public transport
(06:25):
police unit, so a dedicated police unit. All they do
is and I prefer like I've seen in Switzerland, mostly
in Musty, so you don't know who is the policeman
sitting on your train or your bus, and then you
become an idiot and suddenly you're arrested, you know, and
suddenly problems, crime decreased when people don't know who is
(06:45):
actually a police officer on a bus or a train.
I'd like to we'd like to see a dedicated public
transport policing unit. We have a dedicated road policing unit. Well,
how about public transport in Auckland and Wellington, because look,
I don't think we can accept one murder a year
of an innocent public transport user.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
No, no, I don't think we can either in the pool,
bus driver and co. So if you were to rank,
if you know the government was center, and you were
to rank your list of of requests from the Public
Transport Users Association, what would they be.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Well, in Auckland, we'd like to see commuter services rail
extended out to Cumu because that's a logical development. The
railway line is already there, we just need the trains.
Platforms are even built there, but we just don't have trains.
We'd like to see a heavy rail line from pu
Nui out to Auckland Airport because that would they would
(07:40):
not light rail. Light rail was a complete waste of
time and we said so from the beginning, and I'm
glad we're proved right, just extend the existing system out
to Auckland Airport, and we'd like to see some better
interregional long distance public transport rail services because Auckland to Taodonga,
even the South Island you know, christ such to Dunedin
and Vocago, places like that could actually benefit from a
(08:02):
long distance public transport network, which is what we had
TAIL two thousand and one.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, so we'd like to see some investment in those areas.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And fair enough to John, thank you lovely to talk.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
That's all right, have a great Christmas and a break, yes.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I shall. I look forward to it new too. Thank you.
That is John Reeves, National coordinator of the Public Transport
Users Association.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
For more from carry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Kerrywood and Mornings podcast from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be John, Good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Ah, Merry Christmas, Gary, A.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Very merry Christmas to you. Now. You are the national
coordinator of the Public Transport Users Association, a voluntary organization
that represents current and more importantly, I suppose future users
of public transport. So, as we've been discussing Auckland Transport's
setting up for another month long rail closure. No trains
(00:36):
will be operating for a month between December twenty seven
January twenty eight. What is this going to do? I mean,
I think we accept with that some work needs to
be done and best to do it during the holidays.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah. Well that's the classic cliche that's been going on
for about twenty five years or so since we've been
upgrading the railway system in Auckland, as they use every
summer to close down the services to do upgrades on tracks. However,
to be honest between you and me, it's become a
bit of a joke and we really need to see
a different way of these upgrades happening. We do know
(01:12):
the CRL is opening next year and that is going
to look that really is going to be like the
Oakland Harbor Bridge opening. It's many people can't see what's
going to happen, but within a couple of months of
the CRL opening, it is really going to be quite
a dynamic change to patronage usage and new passengers using
trains in Auckland. But so I know that people you
(01:33):
can be quite skeptical at the moment about what's happening.
I am too, but I still know that it will
be like the Oakland Harbor Bridge and then afterwards we'll think, wow,
we should have built there, you know, years ago. However, yes,
this summer it's going to be pretty bad for rail
users across Auckland.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, I just had Rayon, who as a I would
describe as a reluctant rail user from you haven't heard them,
and he was saying that CRL's that were going to
cannibalize and inconvenience existing train users. Do you accept that?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
No?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Not really? Okay, Well, what it's going to do is
is those three new stations are going to really open
up a whole lot of residents who had never used
trains because there was no railway line open next to
them in the in the CBD. But the other thing
is a lot of people who live to say out west,
take Henderson or Swanson, or even if they extend the
rail commuter rail services to hubay Kumu, which is logical,
(02:26):
those sort the people would be able to jump in
the train and basically get into town fifteen twenty minutes
faster than at present. So at the moment they may
not use the train because it's too slow, But when
you have fifteen or twenty minutes wiped off the journey
time and no parking hassles, suddenly it will look more
attractive when it.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Comes to doing the work that needs to be done,
when are they supposed to do it?
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Well, look, I've lived in Switzerland where they've done humongous
upgrades make this look like peanuts in comparison, and they
didn't inconvenience the passengers over key summertimes or any well
any time like we do in Auckland. They really worked hard,
but at night times and had very few closures. So
really we need a better way of actually doing these upgrades.
(03:12):
And I think Kiwi Rail and Auckland Transport just seemed
to be devoid of the expertise and knowing how.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
To do it.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I personally, now having lived through some massive upgrades across Switzerland,
I would go and get some Swiss consultants from the
Swiss railways to come here because or Japan railways, where
they never closed down entire lines for a month on end,
they never do that. It's really actually in standard practice.
It's become standard practice and acceptable in Auckland, but it's
(03:39):
not the norm. So really we really need to have
a much smarter system which pretty much relies on a
lot of overnight work with a few closures. For sure,
we always will need something, not a month at at
a time. This bitter b At and ki Rail's last
big closure, because after this it becomes a complete joke
and it's just terrible for a rail users.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I was thinking that I have no real confidence it'll
be the last one.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Do you no, correctly, while we've got the same people
managing a project, managing and reviewing it. While we have
those same people doing it, this is all they know.
I think we need to bring in world experts from outside,
and I would run off the Switzerland or Japan in
a hurry and grab a whole lot of good well
expertise from there. They would know how to do it.
(04:25):
It's devoid here. We don't have the right people with
acknowledge here, and.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yet we pay them two hundred and ninety billion dollars
benefit of expertise.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
They do charge like a wounded bull, which is another issue.
But we we really want to just get better expertise.
And like I said Switzerland, I trust them any day.
Compared to what we have currently.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
They would still have to deal with the RMA, though,
because I've talked to people about the roads and they
say they could get the roads done a whole lot
more quickly. But you've got a couple of people in
farmhouses who say, no, we don't want you working through
the night.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well, let's hope these reforms that come through are replic
a lot of those problems. I trust the politicians are
going to be able to carry through. There's much better
reforms than what the rim is at present, because yes,
it stops everything at the moment. When you look at
other countries and what they build and how fast they
build it and the costs they build it, RIMA has
a lot to ask for for basically ruining New Zealand's
(05:24):
economy and infrastructure development.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
What what is the most important thing about in terms
of getting people to trust public transport is its reliability?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Is it?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Its safety?
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Is it? Yeah? It's reliability, safety, convenient and at a
good price. And I guess the city rail link will
become make it more convenient. Royal at the moment, I
mean there's a fifty dollars cap per week in Auckland,
which is a pretty fair price, you've got to say.
But I mean services do end bit too early in
(06:02):
the evening in Auckland. They generally end around ten thirty
at nine. They should go a bit later for people
actually want to go out and use public transport. Safety
is an issue, and obviously was seeing you look, another
murder on a buses last week, which is another one
because we had one last year as well. So we've
been calling for for quite a few years now. On
deaf is to appear for an actual police public transport
(06:25):
police unit, so a dedicated police unit. All they do
is and I prefer like I've seen in Switzerland, mostly
in Musty, so you don't know who is the policeman
sitting on your train or your bus, and then you
become an idiot and suddenly you're arrested, you know, and
suddenly problems, crime decreased when people don't know who is
(06:45):
actually a police officer on a bus or a train.
I'd like to we'd like to see a dedicated public
transport policing unit. We have a dedicated road policing unit. Well,
how about public transport in Auckland and Wellington, because look,
I don't think we can accept one murder a year
of an innocent public transport user.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
No, no, I don't think we can either in the pool,
bus driver and co. So if you were to rank,
if you know the government was center, and you were
to rank your list of of requests from the Public
Transport Users Association, what would they be.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Well, in Auckland, we'd like to see commuter services rail
extended out to Cumu because that's a logical development. The
railway line is already there, we just need the trains.
Platforms are even built there, but we just don't have trains.
We'd like to see a heavy rail line from pu
Nui out to Auckland Airport because that would they would
(07:40):
not light rail. Light rail was a complete waste of
time and we said so from the beginning, and I'm
glad we're proved right, just extend the existing system out
to Auckland Airport, and we'd like to see some better
interregional long distance public transport rail services because Auckland to Taodonga,
even the South Island you know, christ such to Dunedin
and Vocago, places like that could actually benefit from a
(08:02):
long distance public transport network, which is what we had
TAIL two thousand and one.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah, so we'd like to see some investment in those areas.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
And fair enough to John, thank you lovely to talk.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
That's all right, have a great Christmas and a break, yes.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I shall. I look forward to it new too. Thank you.
That is John Reeves, National coordinator of the Public Transport
Users Association.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
For more from carry Wood and Mornings, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from nine am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!