Shine On Stainless

Bringing Back the Shine on Stainless - The Process

Ironic delays

In yesterday's Herald, Peter Lyons wrote an editorial piece titled: Oh, the horrors of Auckland train travel where he commented on the current status of Aucklands rail network and the trials an average commuter has to deal with on a daily basis. The general point of the commentary was to point out how poorly run our train service in Auckland is.

In my opinion, although it made for an amusing read, it stretched the truth just a bit too far. In fact to all those who read it, if they had been considering leaving their cars at home before they read it, afterwards they would be definitely not converting to rail in the near future and I find that just a little irresposible.

The irony in my effort to defend the rail service is that my trip into Britomart this morning took about 1hr 40mins - 1hr longer than usual!

I caught the train at 7.20am in Glen Eden, right on time and with plenty of seats. Once seated I started reading my book and proceeded to get lost in the riveting saga. Before I knew it we were just outside Kingland, parked up. About 5mins into the delay a voice broke in over the load speaker asking everyone to "turn off their ipods and listen", which alone was enough to catch my attention, because the way he said it was blunt and too the point, yet managing to avoid sounding rude! Now that we were all listening he told us we were stuck behind a train which had broken down at Kingland and that he had no information about how long the delay would be at that point. He apologised on behalf of Veolia and left it there.

That was when I overheard a conversation a lady was having with here friend, that involved her saying "this will be perfect for the next chapter...", I looked over and saw she was holding a print out of the article from yesterday's Herald. She and her friend found it all very amusing and were offering the article to people around them to read to pass the time. In true Auckland fashion, no-one accepted, or barely acknowledged the offer despite her fond testimonial that it was "very well written"... eveyone more inclined to keep to themselves.

After about 20mins our train shuddered back to life, and we rolled the last 50m into Kingsland where we stopped again. Still no update from our abrupt announcer, so everyone was just forced to wait. At this point passengers started to get their phones out to call ahead to their intended destinations to let them know they were stuck on a train with no definite time of arrival. Some spoke loud enough for all to hear their frustration, others in muffled tones, trying unsuccessfully to avoid being overheard.

Finally our doors opened, and in flooded a full train worth of passengers which we were going to be transporting the rest of the trip. Still no update from the staff.

So now we were crammed in like cattle, and the train shuddered forward again. I guessed we were finally getting underway again, but no. The trained moved forward about 10m and clunked to an abrupt stop. Without being told, I assumed we were going to push the broken down train the rest of the way. This was indeed the case, and we continued on our trip.

With a fresh new audience, the two ladies with the article tried again to cut the tension by offering their print-out around for a read... unfortunately, no-one seemed in the mood. Still no update from the staff.

After Newmarket, I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking to myself "nearly there", but no. They had one more surprise for us all. Rather than continuing to Britomart we were going on a detour to drop off the broken-down train we were pushing. We pushed the train off on a side track down to the old Central Downtown Platforms. I didn't even know they were still connected let alone used.

So once again we were parked. 5mins go by, presumably while they unhitched the broken train, still no update from staff (you can start seeing the trend here) and we start to reverse back out to the main line. You'd think that would be it, but no. More waiting, I can only guess, this time to wait for clearance to enter the undersized Britomart tunnel.

Well as I said at the start, the trip took an hour longer than usual, but we got there in the end. As you might have noticed, other than the obvious long journey, my one criticism was in the lack of information passed on to the passengers. That first announcement, turned out to be the last.

The reason I'm writing this post is not to put people off riding the trains, because this sort of delay happens fairly infrequently, I can understand that the breakdown might have been unavoidable and that no-one could have predicted it was going to happen, but what Veolia Transport need to do when they are going to be inconveniencing thousands of rail commuters is at the very least keep us informed so we can make arrangements.

Further to that, the text message notification I am subscribed to for updates of delays on the Western line was of no help at all. It continues to be of little use. I even seem to be getting Southern line updates now which I have not subscribed to... I think that could be classed as a breach of the new SPAM legislation.

Come on Veolia! I'm trying very hard here to promote the trains as a great option for commuting but you keep making it difficult, some very little steps could make enduring the hick-ups so much easier.

Over crowding not so bad after all

It seems the over-crowding issues I mentioned previously aren't as bad as I initially reported. I thought us Aucklanders had it rough, then I read this article in stuff.co.nz.

"Some rail passengers are resorting to perching on toilet seats in cramped carriages during the one-hour trip from Kapiti to Wellington."

We don't have the luxury of a toilet on our commuter trains in Auckland, but if you're busting to go while commuting to Wellington, it sounds like you might find yourself holding on despite toilets being available.

At least they have a toilet though, even if it is being used as a seat... I've been in a position of near desperation a couple of times over the past year and my trip is only 40mins. Spare a thought for those who commute for an hour and a half between Britomart and Helensville, if they find themselves needing relief, it's a long way between toilets.

Moving on to other matters, from the Auckland Rail Commuter news desk, on Monday New Lynn's Totara Ave was made one-way for traffic and will stay that way until the completion of the double tracking project. For more information and a map showing the changes to the road you can download this PDF information sheet.

Driving instead of training

Yesterday was the first time in over a year I drove into town instead of catching the train. Work had sent me on a course for the day (in Ponsonby) so I made the decision to drive based on knowing there would be free parking for the day, and that the trains don't go near Ponsonby, and I didn't want to add a bus trip to my commute.

So I drove. I allowed about 45mins for the trip, given Ponsonby is on the Western side of the city, I knew I wouldn't need to go all the way into town (or across it), so figured it would be ample time.

It was! Even with a petrol stop, the whole trip was only about 25mins. I had freeflow for most of the trip.

Statistics have quoted rail patronage is up 30% this winter as Aucklanders have been looking for ways to save on rising petrol costs. Given the ease of my drive, I think it's becoming really noticable, the roads are getting tolerable.

Of course increased patronage has led to over-crowding for commuters, but according to Auckland Regional Transport Authority chief Fergus Gammie, efforts were being made to add more capacity to the system.

"While we acknowledge some trains are crowded at peak times, help is in sight, with two more trains arriving in September and October this year, and six additional trains already on order will be delivered next year,"

"We are literally running to make up for lost time – while we welcome the increase in patronage and had planned for growth, the additional demand we are now seeing due to petrol price increases has meant some operational challenges for us and our (rail) operator, Veolia."

I'm not about to start driving into the city as the cost is still prohibitive, but I found it refreshing to know that should I occasionally need to take the car instead of the train, at least it'll be a painless trip.

NB - I mentioned in an earlier post that I would give updates on the free txt notification service... well it's still providing me updates a minimum of 30mins too late to be useful. It's a pity really, it could have been a really helpful innovation, instead it's another aspect of the rail service that is failing to meet expectations.

Rather than finishing on that negative note though, I will say this... my last few commutes have not been too crowded and they have run to time, and although this is the bare minimum I'd expect in terms of the quality of service provided, given the recent growth, I'd consider that positive!

Rail timetables

I was riding a slightly later train this morning after running a few errands before work and it was quite a different experience. The train was nearly empty, and of those who were still riding, there seemed to be more just travelling a few stops rather than the full trip into Britomart (or Newmarket).

The funny thing was the train was still pulling four carriages. It makes you wonder why there could ever be a need for that kind of capacity after peak morning hours have passed. I'm not complaining here, I was quite content to ride a nearly empty, quiet train with two seats to myself. I just wonder at the cost of pulling four carriages when two would have been more than enough.

Anyway, two nice old ladies came aboard about Mt Albert, heading for a morning shopping in Newmarket and were happily chatting to themselves (they sat near me hence I picked up some info about there plans), and when the ticket man came by they both asked for a timetable because both of their's were overdue... That got me to thinking it might be good to offer a link to were the new timetables are posted, so click here for the lastest train timetable for the western line of Auckland's Rail Network. (PDF)

..And if you're trying to figure out the cost of catching the train and whether it'd be cheaper than driving, click here for a table of train fares.

New station for Newmarket

Yesterday Annette King, Labour's Minister for Transport, was invited to speak at a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction of the new train station at Newmarket, turning the first sod.

The total redevelopment of Newmarket station and junction will cost $48 million, including $25 million for the station building and track realignment work at a cost of $23 million. Last week Hawkins Construction won the contract to build the new station.

The new design will include twin platforms in the middle, two elevated concourses and three tracks. Pedestrian facilities will link the station with Remuera Road and adjacent business, retail and local bus stops.

In her speech, Annette King managed to get off her Labour Party soapbox for a few minutes to mention some growth statistics...

The benefits of improving public transport in Auckland are only too clear, with train patronage in the region growing 130 percent over the past four years. In real terms, we are looking at an increase from 2.5 million passengers in 2003 to close to seven million projected by the end of this year.

I've referred to this here previously, but obviously this growth needs to managed carefully to keep existing services efficient and passengers comfortable. Trains are expected to be using the new station in two years, so in the interim I hope timetables are carefully planned to avoid bottlenecks and delays.

I found these computer renderings of what the new station in Newmarket could look like so posted them here... very shiny!

Been a few days...

The past few days have been occupied with a deadline, so I have not been able to post anything new. Now with the deadline out of the way, today I am able to get back into it.

Last Friday and Monday were uneventful trips on the train, everything ran smooth and on time on my Western Line commute. Just they way we all like it.

I had to endure another offensive smelling passenger who sat right beside me. Ethnic minority, smelling of stale tabacco and musty clothing, and a nervous habit of chewing at his fingertips, like the sound of someone eating with their mouth open right in your ear. I had a window seat, so tried to lean towards the glass, breathe shallow and get lost in my book, a moderately successful technique to help endure the trip.

At least the train ran to time.

I've been receiving the txt updates from Veolia Transport about delays in their service every few days, and all of them have been arrived about half an hour too late to be of any help.

Last night, having worked slightly later than usual to hit my deadline, I was going to be catching a later train. As it happened all Western Line services around peak hour were delayed, and I got a barrage of txts keeping me posted with updates as each service was announced late or cancelled - all about 30mins to late.

But I was at least aware there was no need to rush over to Britomart as I wouldn't be going anywhere in a hurry. So for that reason the txts proved useful.

Of course whenever the trains are running late, you know the next service to actually get away is going to be over-crowded. Sure enough, the train I caught had us crammed in like sardines. I was standing in the aisle where reading a book it a bit difficult, so I went for my back-up option, got out my ipod and tuned into a couple of episodes of the I.T. Crowd. If you've never heard of it, I have trouble watching it without laughing out loud... it's hillarious!

Of course a fit of uncontrollable laughter is a little overt for my likings on the train, which is mostly quiet, and in this case full of fairly frustrated passengers, so I had to control myself.

I don't think it's ever shown on New Zealand TV, but the wonderful internet allows us to see all sorts of things! I reccomend tracking down some episodes if you get the chance.