Latest news with #WX1
RNZ News
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- RNZ News
New double-decker buses for West Auckland driven by demand
An electric double-decker bus in Auckland. Photo: Auckland Transport / supplied A new fleet of 44 electric buses have been deployed in West Auckland. Auckland Transport (AT) said the fleet included 26 double-decker buses to run on the Western Express WX1 service between Westgate and the city centre. Each would carry 100 people, boosting the route's capacity by an extra 51,000 seats per week. "We wouldn't be getting double-deckers if there weren't enough people to go on them, and it shows that West Aucklanders have really embraced the WX1 service," Henderson-Massey Local Board member Dan Collins said in a statement provided by AT. "And you can charge your phone on them too." The others would gradually replace diesel buses on the 11T, 11W and 12 routes in West Auckland. Waitākere Councillor Shane Henderson on an electric double-decker bus. Photo: Auckland Transport / supplied It brought Auckland's total electric fleet to 224 buses, which AT claimed was the most of any city in Australasia - with more to come. "We're adding another 31 electric buses to our fleet by the end of June," AT infrastructure and fleet specification manager Edward Wright said. "By August next year, we will have a fleet of 450 electric buses, which is around a third of the 1350 buses that operates AT's services." A charging station on one of Auckland's electric double-decker buses. Photo: Auckland Transport / supplied The plan was for all buses travelling to Auckland's city centre to be electric by 2030, and the rest of the fleet by 2035. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
1News
23-04-2025
- Business
- 1News
At least $4 billion: New west Auckland busway costings revealed
New cost estimates have revealed the Government's planned Northwestern Busway in Auckland will have a price tag of at least $4.4 billion. Transport Minister Chris Bishop said a staged delivery of the project would be a "game changer" for fast-growing suburbs in northwestern Auckland. Construction on the project "could begin from 2027", the Transport Minister said today, but would be "dependent on further funding availability". He said: "Currently, people in the northwest don't have reliable public transport options, and 60% of residents commute out of the area. "Most people travel to work by car, more than any other area in Auckland, and the Northwestern Motorway regularly suffers from congestion and delays." The Transport Minister also announced today that the NZTA board had endorsed an investment case for the project. The busway had been in various stages of planning for more than a decade. Bishop said he expected the transport agency to seek statutory planning approvals for the busway through the Government's fast-track approvals scheme. There would be three stages to the project, with cost estimates for completing the first two ranging between $4.4 billion to $5 billion, according to the new investment case. But a third stage, including stations at Western Springs and Pt Chevalier, plus an 8km stretch of route from the CBD to Waterview, wouldn't be delivered for another 10 years. The last phase of the project was also not included in the latest cost estimates. Modelled on the city's successful Northern Busway, the separated two-way road for buses would run along SH16 through the central isthmus, before continuing past Waterview onto stations at Te Atatū, Lincoln Rd, Royal Rd, Westgate, and Brigham Creek. The first stage, estimated to cost between $330 million and $380 million, will include new stations at Brigham Creek and Lincoln Road, plus roading improvements for the existing motorway express bus service - route WX1 - along the Northwestern Motorway SH16. Stage two, with a heftier price tag of $4.1 billion to $4.6 billion, will deliver a separated busway from Brigham Creek to Te Atatū, along with full stations at Royal Road and Te Atatū, the second stage of Westgate station, and a connection into the CBD. An "interim" set of improvements along the busway corridor opened in 2023, including bus passenger interchanges at Lincoln Rd and Te Atatū. The first stage of a new bus station in Westgate was under construction and set to be completed by mid-2026. "The staged construction programme ... prioritises benefits to west Aucklanders sooner and focuses on more people benefiting from faster and more reliable journeys, as quickly as possible, while building on the hugely popular WX1 service," Bishop said. Stage one of the project had a benefit-cost ratio of 6.3, while stage two scored a 2.2. The "incremental delivery" of the project over several funding cycles would also "enhance affordability", according to the Transport Minister. "Funding of around $116 million has also already been approved by the NZTA Board in late 2024 for early consenting work and strategic property acquisitions for Brigham Creek and Lincoln Road stations." A busway or light rail line along State Highway 16, known as the Northwestern Motorway, has been in various stages of planning for well over a decade. Under the previous Labour government, light rail was promised for the corridor. During the last election campaign, National pledged to build a rapid transit line, which could have been buses or trains, to connect Northwest Auckland to the CBD. At the time, the party said the project would cost around $2.9 billion.
