Palmerston North as a regional train and bus hub: Part 1
Palmerston North could become a transport hub based around greater use of the current Capital Connection. It would make bus trips to places such as Napier more pleasant.
POLICYPUBLIC TRANSPORTPLANNINGREGIONAL RAILBUSESREGIONAL PLANS
Paul Callister
9/7/20263 min read
Palmerston North as a regional train and bus hub: Part 1
This is a two-part story. This first part looks at how Palmerston North could become a transport hub based around greater use of the current Capital Connection. But the next part, a separate blog, is more ambitious. How could the new Tūhono trains be the centre of new mobility solutions for the whole lower North Island?
The concept of a lower North Island transport hub
If you want to travel from Wellington to Napier on a weekday and not fly or take a car trip, the only option is an Intercity bus. Once there was a direct train service, the Bay Express, but this was shut down in 2001.
It is a relatively long journey by bus. On some days there is a scheduled 7.30am bus from Wellington, other days it goes at 10am, and on some days there are two services.
Setting off at 10am, the bus is scheduled to arrive in Napier at 4.10pm. This includes a 50 minute refreshment break in Palmerston North after arriving at 12.30.
Going the other way, Napier to Wellington, the bus sets off at 9.30am, again arriving in Palmerston North at 12.30 for a 50 minute lunch break.
Could this be a faster, more enjoyable, trip?
Yes, but only if trains and buses worked together.
Currently, the Capital Connection heads to Wellington from Palmerston arriving at 8.20 am. It then sits in Wellington all day before heading back to Palmerston North at 5.15pm. It does not run in the weekend.
Instead, it could make another trip back to Palmerston North before returning in the afternoon to Wellington ready for its evening commuter run.
According to timetables, the train between Wellington and Palmerston North takes just over two hours. The bus is scheduled to take two and a half hours - partly because it has two more stops than the train: Johnsonville and Porirua.
So could the first leg of the trip to Napier be by train, transferring to bus at Palmerston North? And could the bus from Napier connect with the train at a Palmerston North transport hub? The answer is theoretically yes for both those services setting off from Napier and Wellington at 10am.
So, what would be the benefits be?
1. The overall trip could be faster. The 50 minute lunch break would not be needed as travellers could grab a light lunch and a coffee on the train and use the onboard toilets.
2. A five and a half bus trip could be reduced by roughly half. Trains are far more comfortable than buses so reducing the bus section of the trip would be attractive to passengers.
3. The Capital Connection would be better utilised and passenger numbers on off peak services would be increased.
4. The InterCity buses could also be better utilised.
5. For these daytime train services, a stop at Porirua could be added. Porirua station is easily reached from Johnsonville by local bus.
Are there any downsides to this arrangement? The train station in Palmerston North and the current Intercity bus stop are not close to each other. The InterCity bus conveniently stops in the middle of the city close to the centre of the local bus network. But passengers from the train could reach the centre by shuttle or some other service.
The Palmerston North train station has also been allowed to run down and would need some love.
This scenario of train and bus to Napier could easily be expanded to link Whanganui and New Plymouth in a similar way. Potentially, buses going north to Taupo and beyond could also start their journey in Palmerston North.
Could Levin also be a train and bus hub?
With more train services operating there is the potential for some bus services to operate from Levin. For example, heading North through Foxton to Whanganui and beyond. This will be explored more in part two of our story.
How might this happen?
So how could this currently work with InterCity being a private-for-profit company? The idea might make commercial sense to them. If a National Public Transport Agency was established to plan and fund national public transport networks, it could work with various providers. This model of trains and buses working well together has been explored in a previous blog looking at the mini-Swiss model.
But even if this does not happen any time soon, we have more ambitious long-term plans. We explore them in our next blog.
