Albert Park Tunnels

The Albert Park Tunnels are currently a group of old war time bunkers under Auckland city's albert park.They were used during the second world war as bunkers and as air raid shelters.The Main tunnel runs from the end of Victoria Street East all the way under Albert park and Auckland University,To finally open back up at Grafton Gully.Well Auckland Council have just recently had some exciting for what to do with them

Auckland Council have recently announced that they are going to reopen The main tunnel for the public's use.They want to open it just in the time for the America's cup.This couldn't be in a better location because since The tunnel is on Victoria street, it will be able to connect to the proposed Linear park which will be a prioritised walking/Bus route which goes completely along Victoria street all the way too Victoria park.This will mean we will be able to walk a completely from east Auckland CBD all the way to The western part.

What the government plan to do (over my knowledge) with the tunnels is put some rich restaurants through the entire tunnel, and make it a type of mall.They also plan to put some glow worm lights to create an effect like Waitomo caves in Otorohanga This will be really nice as since Auckland is the gateway to New Zealand, its gives another a more unique tourist attraction in the heart of the city centre.It also creates a more significantly easier access point from east Auckland and the University towards the future Aotea Train station.Which I can imagine would bring in a lot of traffic.Apparently Auckland Council says it could open in six months,If it starts construction soon that is...

History Of The Western Line

The Auckland Western line Stretches from Britomart Transport centre in The City,All the way to Swanson in West Auckland.It is also the service that stops at the most stations.with a total of 18 stations including the new Parnell station.

By the early 20th century, The railway ran between what's now known as Auckland strand,to Henderson with some mixed services extending to Hellensville.You can still see evidence that there was a service to Helensville over at the local station.But by 1980,Colin Mclaughlin who was the minister of railways at the time,decided to stop services to helensville meaning trains would stop at Waitakere station.Colin Mclaughlin was famous in New Zealand railway history because he was known for closing most of the all of New Zealands passenger railway services.Including the train from Christchurch to Dunedin.In 2015,while the electrification programme was going on in Auckland's railways,The council decided to close the service to Waitakere due to ever decreasing numbers.So today the western line only extends to Swanson.

Suprisingly,The Western wasen't double tracked until 2005.When "Project Boston" Happend.Project boston was the double tracking of the western line between Boston road station( Now known as Grafton) and Morningside station.Double tracking rapidly came to quickly to the whole western line and by 2010,The whole western line was double tracked.With a bunch of extra upgrades to stations like Mt Albert,Henderson and much more.This finnaly made trains come more frequently and more importently,give way to electrified railway

The Western line may probably be the Railway that is the most Dangerous and has had the most closures,But this railway is absolutely full of history that I could not possibly fit into this one blog post.This railway opens up all of west Auckland and brings it to the City and back again.But although it is an amazingly historical line,it still can take up to 70 minutes to get to the city from Swanson.I wonder if there is a railway being built to help fix this problem?

What will Labour do to help shape Auckland for the better?

As you may have heard over the past couple of weeks,Labour has gone into government with a coalition agreement with The green's and New Zealand First.This is a very interesting turn out as no one would expect New Zealand First to would go and work with the greens.

So what does this mean for Auckland? Will we hopefully see any new changes to New Zealand's Largest and most economical city?Well the new chosen Housing and Transport minister of Labour,Phil Twyford has said we wan't to invest more into Rail,Cycling and walking and less on road infrastructure.This also means that the east-west link in Onehunga has been put on a stand still.He also said that they are hoping to start creating rapid transit from the city to Auckland Airport.This is very exciting and important because this will mean we will finally have a direct rapid public transport link from the CBD and New Zealands biggest Airport.This will bring in much more money for All of New Zealand and not only Auckland.

It's Not only Auckland either,Labour have announced that they are also hoping to invest in Regional Rapid Rail between the surrounding regions of Waikato and Bay of Plenty.This is what Auckland Desperately needs.A frequent and good passenger rail line between Auckland,Hamilton and Tauranga.Labour explained that they are also hoping to start this next year.This will be amazing for all of New Zealand,not just these cities.Greater Auckland originally proposed this concept, and here is what the map for it.

It would be an incredible stride for Auckland and it would bring a lot of potential extensions to Cambridge,Te kuiti and we could bring back the geyserland service to Rotorua.But Labour most likely will pay for most of this with a regional fuel tax for Aucklanders.Which has a few cons and pros.I say pros because it could get people using public transport more instead of taking a car.which would very good.There are tonnes more things labour will do to Auckland to help get our city more livable,beautiful and with all these transport opportunities they have.It'll help get Auckland's blood really pum

Labour's Transport policies

As you probably have heard, Jacinda Ardern has taken over Andrew Little's place as Leader of the Labour party.And I think the change has really helped labor's popularity by quite a bit.

One thing I like About The New Labor Party compared to the National party is there Transport policies.I really find that they are perfect to the Future needs of all of Auckland.She said that there promise was to:

• Put Light Rail to the Airport
• create Light Rail besides the Northwestern motorway
• Finally do the congestion free network

Now if you don't know what the congestion free network is, it is a Rail and Bus Network created by Greater Auckland( Formerly Transport Blog) and Generation Zero.It was originally made in 2013.But they have recently updated it about 2 months ago and so it looks like this.

This will also mean that Labor will finally do rail to the North Shore. The National party's transport policies for Auckland are not that good at all.They are basically saying to put more roads. Which doesn't actually help Auckland congestion. In an earlier post,I  talked about if you make to try and stop congestion,It'll just make things worse because it will give people the idea that they have to drive.The only problem with labour's policies is that they will have to put a regional fuel tax for cars making it likely be 10 cents more expensive.But in a way that's good It could help people get out of there cars and use public transport instead.which is better for all of us.

Akoranga Park and Ride

About 2 months ago, Fair go was talking about something that sounded really interesting to me.The parking space in Akoranga Bus Station.

Now, this really interested me because this is actually the closest station on the shore, and it doesn't have a park and ride.This makes it really hard to park in one of Auckland's busiest Bus stations.There are a couple of parking spaces at the station. but it is really small and you have to pay to park there.The closest Park and Ride on the Busway is constellation which is 6 kilometers away from Akoranga. A park and ride are much needed for a growing urban area like Takapuna. it brings a better sense of safety and security. That's why it would create an impotent and significant change to the local businesses of Akoranga.The solution is simple. Right next door to the bus station, there is a big open field which is only used for sewage.It has tonnes of space for extensions in the future, and could potentially bring more businesses to the area.Here is a map of where this is.

In my opinion, I think it is a perfect location to put it there. it is close to the Bus station, it has tonnes of room to expand and it have a big significance on businesses in the Akoranga Area.And that's just a couple of reasons why it would be very important.I don't know why the government aren't allowing to do this. It's pretty stupid since Akoranga station is the closest bus station on the North Shore.What do you think?

Extending Grater Auckland

If you live in Auckland, You might have noticed that there are a lot of apartments coming up around the suburbs.This is mostly because of the unitary plan. Auckland council a basically making more apartments (not houses) because they are trying to lower the cost of houses. And I think it's working very well.

But it's not just happening in local areas. The unitary plan also says that they are also building new suburbs in rural areas. So in 30 years, places like Dairy flat,Pokeno and even Kumeu will be all urbanised and will be capable of holding the young generation of Auckland.Altogether, Around 4500 houses are being created.

Obviously if these plans do go ahead (which they are most likely too) they will need good transport links. For example, I think a smart option for Northwest Auckland would be too reclaim the track between Swanson and Waimuku. But currently,Auckland Transport are investigating that.For the north of Auckland, one thing that is happening is Ara tuhuno, The extension of the northern motorway. to Wellsford. This is definitely happening because it is one of New Zealand's road of national significance. So that is very good.

History of the Onehunga Line

The Onehunga line is the shortest railway line in Auckland with only six railway stations.The Railway Starts at Britomart and ends at Onehunga Town centre.It also is the only Rail line that has a single track railway bit.

The onehunga Line was technically opened in 1873 but it was only used for freight services to the port.It was opened for public transport use in 2010 though.The railway back then was used for freight services because it was a good way to connect inner city freight to the ports in Onehunga. The Onehunga line was then closed in 2006 because of less demand for freight services to Onehunga. It was soon Reopened in 2010 and was brought by Maxx(Auckland Transport) And is now known as the Onehunga line starting from Britomart An ending in Onehunga.

The Onehunga lounge may be the newest line in Auckland but it would be one of the best investments Auckland Transport has made. Onehunga station is always full of people meaning there is obviously lots of demand. I think the future of the Onehunga line is pretty clear: When demand reaches capacity, make the line double tracked and maybe, just maybe in the very long future, we could extend it down to Auckland Airport.