Disruption to continue as rail shutdown hampers South Auckland services

KiwiRail's upgrade of Auckland's rail network looks set to cause more disruption for South Auckland commuters as more people return to work and schools reopen for the new year.

But despite concerns raised about the impact the works are having on commuters, Auckland Transport (AT) says it is doing its best to pick up the slack with extra bus services.

KiwiRail announced in October that the southern line between Ōtāhuhu and Newmarket and the Onehunga line would remain closed from January until late March.

The works are part of a $330 million rail network rebuild which will see sections of rail lines across the city temporarily closed.

Matt Lowrie is the editor of transport and urban design blog Greater Auckland. He believed things were only going to get worse as people headed back to work in the next month and schools reopened for the new year.

"The issue is AT just doesn't have the buses or the capacity for the extra services and that was always going to be the case. And people travelling from the south will be affected," he said.

"The challenge is always that when there's disruption to public transport services people give up and say it's too hard and then it's difficult to get them back."

Māngere resident Kairen Samaeli regularly uses the rail network and said he was not aware of the closure on the southern line. The 20-year-old traffic controller said it would affect a lot of people.

"I didn't know that it had been closed from Ōtāhuhu to Newmarket until the end of March. That's a long time and that's a lot of people having to rely on buses," he said.

"I do go into the city a lot and I will still use public transport to get into town."

But Samaeli said the shutdown might now affect how he did it.

However, nurse Soumya Varghese was more philosophical. The 36-year-old Papatoetoe resident said she was used the rail network to get to Newmarket.

"Sure, we're going to face some disruption, but the work has to get done at some stage."

Auckland Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman said AT was failing to meet the demands of commuters and called for an urgent review by the council-controlled organisation.

Newman said despite the timing and length of work triggered by KiwiRail's upgrade of the southern line, it was Auckland Transport's job to plan and resource alternative bus services that were fit for purpose.

He outlined his concerns in a letter to Auckland Transport's interim chief executive Mark Lambert and acting chairperson Wayne Donnelly last week.

But in an email response to Newman, Lambert admitted it may struggle to meet demand in the first three months of 2023.

In a statement, an AT spokesperson said while the southern line between Ōtāhuhu and Newmarket and the Onehunga line remained closed, it would continue to offer replacement buses to help connect passengers.

"On top of this we also have additional buses on standby to help keep people moving if there are spikes in demand during the morning and afternoon peaks."

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.