Rail closures worsen overcrowding for East Auckland commuters

Rail closures are worsening the problem of overcrowded buses and missed stops for East Auckland commuters to the CBD.

Five stations on Auckland’s Eastern Line closed on Monday until January 2024 as part of KiwiRail’s $330 million rail network upgrade.

AUT nursing student Xiaomin Huang experiences overcrowding often during her commute to university but says that it has become worse since the Eastern Line closed.

“During rush hour, it’s pretty packed on the buses and it gets hard to find a spot to sit or stand,” she says.

“It makes me feel bad for the older people who might not be able to grab a seat, and it’s definitely not safe when people are standing up and not holding on, especially when the 72x goes on the motorway. Plus, it gets so stuffy and gross on a hot day.”

She suggests more buses during peak hours or even double-decker buses on key routes as a solution to overcrowding.

“AT needs to step up their game,” says Huang.

Auckland Transport said that the shortage of 370 bus drivers has been its biggest challenge in responding to overcrowded buses citywide, especially with March being the busiest time of the year.

“Normally, we’d be watching the network every day and putting out spare buses wherever we see capacity dropping and demand increasing,” AT manager of metro optimisation Richard Harrison says.

“With the shortage of bus drivers, we just don’t have as much to spare.”

Auckland Transport modelling anticipates that the closures of Sylvia Park, Panmure, Glen Innes, Ōrākei, and Meadowbank stations will put increased demand on surrounding bus services.

“We think there is going to be available capacity on most of those services based on where we think people are going to transfer to,” Harrison says.

Two existing bus routes in the area have been upgraded to provide more service.