Last year, Auckland Transport announced the the New Network for buses in our area. For the full list of changes please see our news article Auckland Transport Announces New Bus Routes from 2017 (published June 2016).
After the New Network was announced, we (along with assistance from Orakei Local Board) helped local resident and association member Richard Roxburgh successfully petition Auckland Transport for a bus from Meadowbank to the waterfront (via St Thomas’s and Selwyn College), as we believed this was a crucial link missing from the New Network.
Now we are supporting our member Richard Roxburgh in another petition: this time for a bus service that connects to Meadowbank Station – one of only two stations in Auckland with no bus stop.
Information to consider when signing this petition
The purpose of the petition is to influence Auckland Transport to alter the Final Bus Network to extend the Meadowbank bus so that it travels to the Meadowbank Railway Station.
There are three reasons for this:
- Firstly, the current plan, in which bus 729 runs up Bonnie Brae Road and turns right into Meadowbank Road means that there is a walk of 550m from the closest bus stop to the station. This walk is a significant barrier to the use of the trains both from the viewpoint that it is time-consuming (the idea of bus-ing to Meadowbank Road then walking for 10 minutes and then catching the train is a journey that only a serious enthusiast would consider). More significantly, for many residents who are elderly or disabled, the walk which is up/down a considerable hill is simply impossible.
- Secondly, the announcement of a change to this bus route so that it will run along Kohimarama Road to Mission Bay, though hugely beneficial for Meadowbank and St Johns residents in other respects, removes the connection to the Railway Network at Glen Innes Station. The only connection between this bus route and the Rail Network would therefore be at Ellerslie Station. Extending the 729 bus-route to Meadowbank Station will restore the local rail connection.
- Thirdly, Meadowbank Station has very limited street parking so that currently commuters are parking on residential streets throughout the day in many of the Meadowbank streets, commonly extending up to the Meadowbank/Te Hapa Crescent intersection. This can only be alleviated by an efficient bus connection.
Map showing the potential for a link to Meadowbank Station in the New Network
In the Final Plan Auckland Transport was to consider this option “subject to further investigation” and obviously one of the issues being investigated is the number of parking places that will have to be removed to accommodate a bus stop at the station. Even if the number of spaces is as high as has been mooted (22) the benefits of a bus-rail connection outweigh this because as twice as many passengers will be able to use the bus/train service each hour as are currently using these car parks.
Download the petition form: Meadowbank Bus Station Petition Form (PDF)
Note: Richard Roxburgh undertakes only to use the information that you provide in this form specifically for the purpose of this petition. He will present it to Auckland Transport but not share it with any other third party.