However, the decision was soon made to abandon plans for a new trolleybus system, with vehicles already under construction diverted to Wellington. The North Island Main Trunk was electrified in the 1980's, however only between Hamilton & Palmerston North. In the early 1990's government regulation in New Zealand required all local governments to be seperate from public transport opertion and the ARC moved to contract out the bus service to 'The Yellow Bus Company'. In 1993, in an attempt to save suburban rail services from an almost certain death the New Zealand Railway's CityRail division chose to purchase the Perth DMU fleet of ADB/ADK & ADC/ADL cars made surplus by the electrification of the Perth Suburban Network. In the same year legislation was passed by the NZ Government which made for the sale of New Zealand Railways to the US Wisconsin Central Railroad, and NZR became known as TranzRail with its urban division of TranzMetro (which also operates the Wellington Electric Service).
In 1998 the Yellow Bus Company was acquired by the British Stagecoach company, and at around the same time the non CBD located 1930's built Auckland Railway Station buildings were sold to the near by University of Auckland for use as dormitory accomodation, leaving just the platforms and a demountable building serving as the booking office serving as the central railway station of New Zeland's largest city. The Auckland rail network has suffered as a result of government indecisiveness for decades and the lack of a CBD station to bring commuters to the centre of the city. The long awaited Britomart Place redevelopment was officially opened on July 25 2003. The Britomart terminal comprises and underground rail and bus interchange combined with the usual shopping mezzanine areas. Ironically it has been built on the site of the first Auckland Railway Station. Buses and Trains have commenced service to the new station. Recently with the change of government in New Zealand a change of attitude has seen governments again becoming more interested in the operation and management of their transport networks. The situation in Auckland surely cannot get any worse than in the dark days of the mid 1990's.
The network today comprises of 3 rail lines using the ex Perth DMU's. Routes are to Waitakere, Papakura via Newmarket & Papakura via Glen Innes. The bus network is relatively large and the longest routes are opertated to Orewa on the Hibiscus Coast, approximately 50 kms North of Auckland. Regularly updated transit information for Auckland services can be found on the ARC's Rideline website.
Auckland's transport problems are so severe that The New Zealand Herald has a feature section of their web page titled
Getting Auckland Moving, where you can follow the drama of Auckland transport with their
regular reports on the city's pathetic transport infrastructure.
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