Cutting intermediate stations

[george matthews]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_i ... D=10117792

>>The rebranded Toll NZ, which bought Tranz Rail in 2003, says its Overlander passenger trains will "stop stopping" at Te Kauwhata, Huntly and Te Awamutu from April 10.
The same news is being given to Waiouru, Taihape, Otaki and Waikanae.
The cuts will slice 40 minutes off the Auckland-Wellington train journey.<<

I see the NZ privatised rail company has the usual attitude to public service.

[David Benton]

I think its an honest attempt at getting the total trip time down , rather than a attempt to save money . As they say in another article , it wont save any staff costs .
The cariages are old , with narrow access doorways . Stopping to let one passenger off , takes 5 - 10 minutes . To pick one up probably takes longer , as theyre invariably standing in the wrong place , or still sitting in thier car , while waiting for the train .
Ive actually used Huntly a few times , everytime i got off , i was the only one to do so .
but it is sad , but not as sad as the loss of the overnite train servoce completely .
The only consolation , is that sometime soon , Huntly and Te kauwhata may have commuter train service to Auckland and Hamilton .

[David Benton]

on local boards there is quite abit of discussion on this . Apparently Huntly had 8 passengers in total last month . It costs around $ 200 to stop/ start the train apparently , with the highest fare been around $ 120 , its obviously been a money loser .
The service has been privatised for at least 10 years .
others have noted that huntly has just recieved a new platform and shelter , this has been paid for by road transit , as it had to be moved to suit roading requirements . at the moment this is wasted , but hopefully commuter service to auckland will come onstream in the next few years .
Its 45 minutes by car to Auckland , 20 minutes to Hamilton .

[David Benton]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpo ... 79,00.html

the view from the other end of the run .

[george matthews]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpo ... 79,00.html

the view from the other end of the run .

>>Toll corporate affairs manager Sue Foley said the decision to ditch the stops was based on low numbers of passengers - an average of one a day - using them. "Otaki and Waikanae passenger numbers were below that. The service has become more of a tourist experience rather than a short distance service."<<

Have they thought of "marketing"? You know, trying to drum up more usage?

[David Benton]

population of the affected towns .
Te kauwhata - 1,095
Huntly - 6800
teawamutu - 2895
waiouru - 1647
Otaki - 5000
Waikainae - 15000

Hence any marketing would be hard to justify , and would probably be better spent in larger areas . Or by the towns themselves .
What might be worthwhile is a door to station taxi bus service , running to the next remaining stop . this would create worthwhile patronage i believe .
New Zealand is still quite rural , you would have larger populations in the surrounding areas of these towns , but they would drive to where theyre going , or if taking public transport , drive to the nearest big town .