Posts by BenWilson
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A classic "good cop bad cop" act? It does work.
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Act could have been useful. Now, it needs to change or disappear – and I don't know which is more likely.
I don't think either one is likely. It was how you describe right from the get-go. It's National I'm disappointed in, for giving them so much unnecessary power.
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Incidentally, does anyone know the reason why port bound trucks, rather than using the expensive motorway built for them, tend to drive up symonds St.
Presuming you meant down and also assuming they are actually going to the Port the first thing that jumps to mind is that they are trying to avoid the chance of the weighbridge checkpoint at the bottom end of the motorway. They might be overloaded or dodgy in some other way.
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Turning the Onehunga branch into a loop that crosses to the Airport and then links to the Manukau branch would open up many options, including a train from Hamilton via the airport.
Not to mention airport to everywhere else on the train network.
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Angus, again I cast my mind to Melbourne which has a much bigger port right next to the CBD and manages fine. It's fine because they keep expanding all kinds of capacity, roads, rail, light rail, etc. It's no surprise that ports end up next to cities - more accurate to say that cities initially tend to grow around ports.
For Auckland, people on trains are not on the roads so the port traffic is aided. Also, how would a rail loop encourage people who can't use it to the CBD?
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Considering how big and hard trains often are, it could actually be a case of penis envy?
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Steve, I don't think you need to find conspiracies to understand the Right's love of trucks. It's more to do with ideology. Trucks don't require centralized coordinated planning (although of course they're much more efficient when they are coordinated properly), which seems to shit off the think tanks. Furthermore train drivers can easily unionize, whereas truckies are mostly contractors from dozens of different sources - it's impossible to block scab working. That's part of the reason they can be cheaper - the labour is exploited more easily.
Also trucks are massive symbols of raw power and energy - I wouldn't underrate the sexual psychology of it. A fetish, as you say.
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How long ago? All the lines have improved dramatically, and from memory in July about 86% of all services were within five minutes of scheduled time.
It's been 18 months since she stopped working, but I don't think she had even tried catching one in to work for several months before that.
I'm willing to believe that the service has improved - I only put in my 2c to show what it was that stopped her from using it. It wasn't the destination, which was perfect - Britomart was about 200m from her work, and the Avondale station is only 2km down the road, she could either walk (never happened), or park near the station, or could get me to drop her off there (which was what was actually done the 20-odd times we tried it).
It was the reliability. Even if we were Italian, her workplace was not. She has it even harder, having German ancestry, so being late caused her real stress. The bus, despite taking 15-30 minutes longer, was her preferred option.
Since then, West has been double tracked so I can bet a lot of the improved reliability stems from that.
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FWIW, my wife used the Western line to Britomart. It was perfectly good for getting home, but not sufficient for getting to work - it was too unreliable, and you can't tolerate that when you have to get to work.
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They would proceed from Papakura to Mt Eden to Henderson. West Auckland is not a "nowhere stop".
You're talking about a whole new train line, going from South to West? Is there a proven demand for this?
I personally wouldn't have a problem with it, if there's any demand, but is there? Most train lines around the world go into and out of the city, not across town. Unless you're talking a really big city like London, then the trains go everywhere. In Auckland, if you want to go West from South, you have to change trains somewhere, probably Newmarket?
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