What facilities do we need at our regional stations and bus hubs?

Transport is not just about the trip. It is also about where you set off from and where you arrive.

At the end of September, I travelled to Auckland for the launch of the Better Moves initiative. Better Moves is a research-based exploration of how our transport system can enable us all to get around. It is promoted as Aotearoa's first ever national-scale vision for a better transport future. How we travel helps shape the lives we lead and the places we live. Transport connects us with each other, with opportunity and with the places we love. Done well, it can give us more freedom, healthier lives and stronger communities — while caring for Te Taiao. For longer distance travel, electrified passenger trains need to be at the core of the system. But buses, eventually all electrified, are important too. Trains and buses need to work together.

Part of my trip from Wellington to Auckland for the launch was on Te Huia, part on InterCity bus.

While in Auckland, I tried out the City Rail Link. As many people have already said, the stations are beautiful with great facilities for travellers. It certainly shows up places like Wellington, and particularly the major stations of Palmerston North and Hamilton’s Frankton, as needing improvements. Waiting for Te Huia at Frankton, passengers find there are no public toilets on the station.

So, what about smaller railway stations and bus stops in regional New Zealand? What facilities should we expect? On a long trip between Wellington and Auckland you get to see a few good examples, but many more bad examples.

Rundown stations are easy to find. Levin, a stop for the Capital Connection, is one. New trains are coming so this rapidly needs fixing. One idea is to build a modern station near the centre of the fast-growing town.

Some InterCity bus stops are simply a sign beside a road. This one is in the Hawkes Bay.

Photo source: Heidi O'Callahan

What are the bare minimums passengers should expect?

· A shelter from the elements with adequate seating, preferably with heating in cold weather.

· Toilets at the site or nearby, with parent friendly facilities. Particularly important if the actual bus and train services do not have onboard bathrooms.

· An electronic departure and arrival board, with audio for those with poor eyesight. Or, at a minimum, free wifi to allow transport apps to work.

· A drinking fountain where water bottles can be filled.

· Excellent security through good lighting, security cameras and emergency communication systems.

· Safe access, including by walking, to the station or bus stop.

Larger stations and bus interchanges can have additional facilities such as coffee shops and cafes as well as luggage lockers. While bigger cafes are good with a personal touch, robotic coffee makers can already be found in bus stops on Auckland’s busy northern busway. Robots are now making pizzas. But a simple dispensing machine can at least provide cold drinks and snacks.

The newly upgraded train and bus interchange at Paraparaumu ticks most boxes. It also has a nice garden on the bus stop roof. In the background of the photo is new medium density housing. An example of Transit Oriented Development on the Kapiti Coast.

In contrast, the key central North Island long distance bus interchange at Taupo fails on most criteria. Open sided bus shelters with limited seating, toilets a longish walk in the open air, no water fountains, cafes nearby but closed when later buses pass through, no electric arrival and departure signs, no free wifi, passengers stand in the open air on a shared walking/biking path when loading the bus, no luggage lockers and no emergency communication devices.

The local, taxpayer and ratepayer, upgraded Taupo airport terminal, serving very few flights, has far better facilities.

When reviving regional passenger rail, initial stations can be temporary platforms. But the goal should be developing stations and bus stops that are cost effective but fully serve the needs of passengers.

Victoria Case Study

Ballarat

With a population of 127,000, Ballarat is 1.5 hours away from Melbourne’s Southern Cross station by train. In some ways it could be equivalent to Hamilton or Palmerston North or at a stretch; Dunedin, in relation to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch respectively. However, Ballarat has the benefit of Melbourne’s greater population and proximity, as well as more mature infrastructure and customer market. There are multiple train services (up to 32) per day in each direction to and from Melbourne. In addition, Ballarat is a key coach service regional interchange hub. It operates as a major western pivot for coaches heading toward Hamilton, Stawell, Daylesford, and Mildura, as per the below downloaded map of the western sector of Vline’s network.

A key focus has been recent upgrade works to the historic and distinctive railway station, to enable better connectivity and accessibility between trains and coaches. Hamilton, Palmerston North and Dunedin all have the potential to be important coach service regional interchange hub, with a wide-ranging network of coach services, connecting with rail services of higher speeds and frequencies to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch respectively. Clearly there are differences in distance, population and rail-speed potential relative to Ballarat, but there also similarities with Ballarat’s relationship with Melbourne.

Auckland to Hamilton upgraded rail and Wellington to Palmerston North upgraded rail have been the subject of multiple reports and insights, including many Future is Rail blogs. Tūhono battery-electric trains with battery plus 1.6 kV DC or 25kV AC catenary power options look to be straightforward solutions. With multiple regional and inter-regional destinations linking back to regional interchange hubs in Hamilton and Palmerston North, future connecting services maps for each of these two potential hubs, in future could look very similar to V/Line’s western sector map above. The main challenge for Hamilton and Palmerston North, will be optimising the locations for each hub. In both regional cities, investment will be needed, likely aligned with Transit Oriented Development.

A future Christchurch to Dunedin service has been described by The Future is Rail here. And there is a technically feasible adaptation of Tūhono proposed by international rail consultants here. While Dunedin – Oamaru is slow (and scenic), Oamaru to Christchurch was built in the steam era as a premier rail corridor and retains many attributes to facilitate faster passenger rail in future. Dunedin’s iconic railway station has many of the key features, including location, to enable its progression to a genuine coach service regional interchange hub, in addition to its current role in scenic heritage tourism rail.

Regional public transport in Victoria has a primary remit to serve as lifelines for regional communities enabling social and economic connectivity, as well as supporting primarily domestic tourism. A critical difference, and a vital aspect for inter-regional public transport in New Zealand, will be the importance of international tourism, especially in enticing tourists to spend dollars in struggling regional economies away from the main tourism centres.

Dunedin’s airport is a long distance from the city centre, and IPEX calculated a typical centre-to-centre Christchurch to Dunedin flight time and connections of 3.5 hours. Rail can get to 5.5 hours easily, and potentially 5 hours. Current Inter City coaches take 6 hours while times by private car take 4.5 hours. As an attractive regional interchange hub, Dunedin will be a great launching point for connecting coach services to Queenstown, Invercargill, and many other destinations in the southern regions of Te Waipounamu – South Island, Aotearoa – New Zealand.

The Future Is Rail.

organiser@thefutureisrail.org

022 154 9119