4 August 2006

Waitakere residents are more train-wise

More people are taking the train in Waitakere compared to commuters in south and east Auckland.

The number of people taking the train to and from Waitakere increased by a massive 600% since 1992, exceeding the Auckland rail network’s overall patronage by 100% during the same 14 year period.

Patronage of the Waitakere Line keeps increasing: last year it was up by 40% (with a total of 1.9 million trips), compared to the previous year, the City Development Committee heard on 3 August.

“This growth rate is significantly higher than the growth on the southern and eastern lines and outstrips the 30% increase in Auckland’s combined rail system,” says Penny Hulse, chair of the City Development Committee.

“I take the train to work as much as possible and am really enjoying it… I only bring my car when I need to go straight to other meetings later,” she says.

“It’s good to see some results from the work Waitakere City Council has been doing alongside key regional organisations in the planning and development of the rail network that runs through some of Waitakere City’s main town centres,” says Cr Hulse.

“An important part of our plan is to ensure that stations are sited in the best possible location and that design work is undertaken to a high standard. A prime example is the Henderson Railway Station which is presently being built,” she says.

There has also been a significant improvement in the on-time operation of trains on the Waitakere Line as a result of the new timetable introduced in October 2005.

Trains are currently running on time 83.6% of the time - that is, where trains are within five minutes of their timetable departure time.

“This is an enormous improvement over the preceding period where on-time performance on the Waitakere Line at times dipped below 50%. Improvements in on-time operations have been achieved alongside a 25% increase in the number of train services on the network,” says Cr Hulse.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that more Council staff are using the train since the move to Waitakere Central. Initial feedback by staff is that they are pleased with the quality of service, noting especially the high-quality of customer service provided by Veolia Transport's on-board staff.

ENDS

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