Public transport in Auckland



Public transport in Auckland, the largest metropolitan area of New Zealand, consists of three modes: bus, train and ferry. Services are coordinated by Auckland Transport (AT) under the AT and AT Metro brands. Waitematā railway station is the main transport hub.

Until the 1950s, Auckland was well served by public transport and had high levels of ridership. However, the dismantling of an extensive tram system in the 1950s, the decision by Stan Goosman to not electrify Auckland's rail network, and a focus of transport investment into a motorway system led to the collapse in both mode share and total trips. By the 1990s, Auckland had experienced one of the sharpest declines in public transport ridership in the world, with only 33 trips per capita per year.

Since 2000, a greater focus has been placed on improving Auckland's public transport system through a series of projects and service improvements. Major improvements include the Waitematā railway station, the Northern Busway, the upgrade and electrification of the rail network and the introduction of integrated ticketing through the AT HOP Card. These efforts have led to sustained growth in ridership, particularly on the rail network. Between June 2005 and November 2017 total ridership increased from 51.3 million boardings per annum to 90.9 million.

Despite those strong gains, the overall share of travel in Auckland by public transport is still quite low. At the 2013 census, around 8% of journeys to work were by public transport and per capita ridership in 2017 of around 55 boardings is still well below that of Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and most large Canadian cities.

Auckland's rapid population growth means that improving the city's public transport system is a priority for Auckland Council and the New Zealand Government. Major improvements planned or underway include the City Rail Link, construction of the Eastern Busway between Panmure and Botany, and the proposed City Centre–Māngere Line, a light rail line between the city centre and Auckland Airport, which was cancelled by the coalition government in 2024.

Pre World War II growth
Horse-drawn trams operated in Auckland from 1884. The Auckland Electric Tram Company's system was officially opened on 17 November 1902. The Electric Tram Company started as a private company before being acquired by Auckland City Council.

The tram network enabled and shaped much of Auckland's growth throughout the early 20th century. Auckland's public transport system was very well utilised, with usage peaking at over 120 million boardings during the Second World War, when Auckland's population was less than 500,000.

Post World War II decline
Auckland's extensive tram network was removed in the 1950s, with the last line closing in late 1956. Although a series of ambitious rail schemes were proposed between the 1940s and 1970s, the focus of transport improvements in Auckland shifted to developing an extensive motorway system. Passionate advocacy from long-time Mayor of Auckland City Council Dove-Myer Robinson for a "rapid rail" scheme was ultimately unsuccessful. Removal of the tram system, little investment in Auckland's rail network and growing car ownership in the second half of the 20th century led to a collapse in ridership across all modes of public transport. From a 1954 average level of 290 public transport trips per person per year (a share of 58% of all motorised trips), patronage decreased rapidly. 1950s ridership levels were only reached again in the 2010s, despite Auckland's population growing four-fold over the same time period.

These decisions also shaped Auckland's growth patterns in the late 20th century, with the city becoming a relatively low-density dispersed urban area with a population highly dependent on private vehicles for their travel needs. By the late 1990s ongoing population growth and high levels of car use were leading to the recognition that traffic congestion was one of Auckland's biggest problems.

Privatisation
It has been claimed that the city's public transport decline resulted from, "privatisation, a poor regulatory environment and a funding system that favours roads". On the other hand, NZ Bus claim that increasing passengers and cost control began with privatisation in 1991.

21st century revival
As concerns over urban sprawl and traffic congestion grew in the 1990s and early 2000s, public transport returned to the spotlight, with growing agreement of the "need for a substantial shift to public transport". Growing recognition that Auckland could no longer "build its way out of congestion" through more roads alone led to the first major improvements to Auckland's public transport system in half a century:
 * Waitematā station was opened in 2003 as Britomart Transport Centre, the first major upgrade of Auckland's rail network since World War II. This project allowed trains to reach into the heart of Auckland's city centre and acted as a catalyst for the regeneration of this part of downtown Auckland.
 * The Northern Busway was opened in 2008, providing Auckland's North Shore with rapid transit that enabled bus riders to avoid congestion on the Northern Motorway and Auckland Harbour Bridge.
 * A core upgrade of Auckland's rail network between 2006 and 2011, known as Project DART, which included double-tracking of the Western Line, the reopening of the Onehunga Branch line to Onehunga, a rail spur to Manukau City and a series of station upgrades.
 * Electrification of the Auckland rail network (except for the section of track between Papakura and Pukekohe) and the purchase of new electric trains from Spanish manufacturer CAF. Electric train services commenced in 2014. AT trains were 100% electric in 2022.
 * Implementation of an integrated ticketing and fares system, through the AT HOP card, enabling consistent fares and easy transfers between different bus, train and ferry operators.
 * Electric AT buses and depots began replacing diesel in 2020. In March 2024 there were 138 zero-emission buses, including one double-decker.

Despite these improvements, the lack of investment in Auckland's public transport system throughout the latter part of the 20th century means the city still has much lower levels of ridership than other major cities in Canada and Australia. Auckland's ongoing strong population growth and constrained geography means that Auckland's transport plans now have a strong focus on further improving the quality and attractiveness of public transport. Further improvements are to be realised in the years to 2028 under the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP), valued at NZ$28 billion ($4.6 billion more than previously planned), of which $9.1 billion is for additional public transport projects, including: the completion of the City Rail Link; the construction of the Eastern Busway, which will run from Panmure to Botany; Northern Busway extension to Albany; the extension of the railway electrification to Pukekohe; a third line to Auckland between Westfield and Wiri or Wiri and Papakura, to allow freight trains to bypass stationary passenger trains; further new electric trains and the construction of a new light rail line, the City Centre–Māngere Line.

In late January 2022, the New Zealand Government approved a NZ$14.6 billion project to establish a partially tunneled light rail network between Auckland Airport and the Wynyard Quarter in the Auckland CBD. The proposed light rail network will integrate with current train and bus hubs as well as the City Rail Link's stations and connections. Transport Minister Michael Wood also added that the Government would decide on plans to establish a second harbour crossing at Waitematā Harbour in 2023.

Urban services
Buses provide for around 70% of public transport trips in Auckland. Bus services generally run from around 6am to midnight, with a limited number of buses linking Auckland's suburbs and city centre after midnight on Friday and Saturday nights only, with Northern Express services on the Northern Busway on the North Shore running half-hourly until 3:00 a.m. Services are contracted by Auckland Transport (AT) and operated by a number of private companies, including: AT began rebranding bus services to AT Metro in 2014–2015 to create a single identity for all bus services, with some exceptions like the Link buses which retained their red, green and orange colours. In 2023, AT began decommissioning the AT Metro brand, replacing it with the refreshed AT brand identity. The livery colours are being retrained. There are five Link services; all accept fare payment by AT HOP card or cash and all run from early morning to late evening, 7 days of the week.
 * Bayes Coachlines
 * Go Bus
 * Howick and Eastern Buses
 * NZ Bus
 * Pavlovich Transport Solutions
 * Ritchies Transport
 * Tranzurban Auckland (Tranzit Group) – contracted operator of NX2 services on the Northern Busway
 * Waiheke Bus Company (by Fullers, 5 routes)
 * CityLink – red electric buses; Wynyard Quarter – Queen Street – Karangahape Road
 * InnerLink – green buses – both way loop; Waitematā – Parnell – Newmarket – Karangahape Road – Ponsonby Road – Victoria Park – Waitematā.
 * OuterLink – amber buses – both way loop; Wellesley Street – Parnell – Newmarket – Mount Eden – Mount Albert – Westmere – Herne Bay – Wellesley Street.
 * TāmakiLink – blue electric buses; Waitematā – Spark Arena – Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium – Mission Bay – Kohimarama Beach – St Heliers Bay – Glen Innes.
 * AirportLink – orange electric buses; Manukau – Puhinui – Auckland Airport

Airport services
The AirportLink bus provides a connection to Puhinui railway station where Southern Line or Eastern Line services connect from Waitematā in downtown Auckland. It also serves Manukau railway station to provide connections to the east. Bus 38 connects the Airport to Māngere and Onehunga.

The SkyDrive bus provides a direct bus connection between Auckland Airport and Auckland CBD. Previously, SkyBus provided direct bus services, however the service ceased due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bus priority facilities
Auckland has a growing number of bus lanes, some of which operate at peak times only and others 24 hours a day. These lanes are for buses and two-wheeled vehicles only and are intended to reduce congestion and shorten travel times. All are sign-posted and marked on the road surface.

The Central Connector bus lane project improved links between Newmarket and the inner city, while bus lanes are also planned on Remuera Road and St Johns Road to connect the city with the Eastern Bays suburbs.

The Northern Busway provides complete separation for buses from general traffic between Akoranga busway station (near Takapuna) and Albany busway station. In the near future, a new station will be built between Albany and Constellation busway station called Rosedale. It will serve the nearby Industrial Area. In the long-term plans remain to extend the busway to Hibiscus Coast busway station, and Orewa.

The Eastern Busway (AMETI) is currently being constructed to connect Botany and Panmure with a separated busway along Ti Rakau Drive, onto Pakuranga Road and Lagoon Drive. Pre-construction began in late 2018, with the removal of houses along Pakuranga Road due to be complete by April 2019. Stage one connecting Panmure and Pakuranga opened in 2021, with continued construction of the busway from Pakuranga to Botany being completed by 2025. A new Botany station is due to be completed by 2026. Further extensions to Auckland Airport via Manukau City are being explored, although no decisions on this extension have been made public.

Other planned busways include the Northwestern Busway between Westgate and the city centre (possibly to be built as light-rail instead of a busway ) and a bus connection between Auckland Airport, Manukau City and Botany. There are currently small sections of bus lanes on SH16 between Westgate and Newton Rd as an interim "short-term" improvement before the Northwestern Busway is built.

Commuter services
At peak hours express buses serve commuters from the outlying towns north and south of Auckland.

Express bus 125X takes up to 2 hours to cover the 43 km from Helensville to Auckland. As part of the November 2023 West Auckland network change, 125X been removed from the AT network. Use WX1 and 125 to complete this trip.

Mahu City Express has run a commuter bus from Snells Beach to Parnell since October 2015. It runs twice a day, Monday to Friday, taking about an hour for the 57 km from Warkworth to Victoria Park, with stops at Smales Farm and Akoranga. Since 1 March 2021 the first electric luxury coach in the country has been on the route. It uses a 40-seat Yutong TCe12, bought with the aid of a $352,500 EECA grant.

Bus 995 runs hourly, linking Warkworth to Hibiscus Coast busway station, with connection to the Northern Express, taking a bit over an hour to Auckland.

Waiuku's bus 395 links it to Papakura railway station twice a day.

Long-distance services
Long-distance bus operator Intercity links Auckland with all the main centres in the North Island, also operating the budget-orientated SKIP Bus services. Skip buses were suspended from 25 March 2020. Until 18 August 1996 InterCity services operated from Auckland railway station. Since then they have run from Skycity. Skycity wants the bus station to move and it has been criticised for diesel fumes and poor toilets. However, InterCity rejected a move to Manukau and, in 2020, plans to move back to the old railway station were dropped.

Night services
There are a total of 15 routes as part of the Night Bus and Northern Express bus services which operate on Friday and Saturday nights between the hours of 00:00 and 03:30. Most routes depart the city centre on an hourly basis although the Northern Express bus route NX1 is more frequent. The night bus services were paused during COVID but returned on 2 December 2021 when AT’s Group Manager Metro Services Stacey van der Putten noted that AT was "bringing back a wide range of our ‘Night Buses’ services this weekend to help support our city’s hospitality sector and to make it easier for town-goers and hospitality workers alike to get home safely and affordably in the early hours.”

Busiest routes
The following table shows the 25 busiest bus routes in Auckland by boardings in 2023.

Urban services
Auckland's urban train services are operated under the AT brand by Auckland One Rail. Trains and stations are owned by Auckland Transport, while tracks and other rail infrastructure are owned by KiwiRail.

Since the opening of Waitematā railway station, significant improvements have been made to urban rail services. These include:
 * Sunday services were reintroduced in October 2005 for the first time in over 40 years, together with a general 25% service frequency increase.
 * Project DART upgraded the core rail network between 2006 and 2012, including double-tracking the Western Line, completed in 2010, constructing the Manukau Branch line from Wiri to Manukau City Centre, completed in 2012, rebuilding and reconfiguring Newmarket railway station, completed in 2010, and reopening the disused Onehunga Branch line for passengers in September 2010.
 * Electrification of the rail network from Swanson station on the Western Line and Papakura station on the Southern Line and the purchase of 57 electric trains. The first passenger services operated in April 2014.
 * Otahuhu railway station was extensively rebuilt to connect with a new bus interchange being built alongside. In October 2016, the interchange was opened to coincide with the launching of a new bus network timetable in South Auckland, Pukekohe and Waiuku.
 * The new Manukau bus station (next to Manukau railway station) was officially opened in April 2018 and bus services from the new facility began, serving South and East Auckland.
 * A bus and rail interchange at Puhinui connecting Auckland Airport to and from Manukau bus station, that began its construction of the first stage in October 2019 and completed in early 2021. The new interchange opened on 26 July 2021.

These improvements have led to rapid growth in rail ridership, from a low of 1 million annual boardings in 1994 to over 20 million in 2017. Increasing train frequencies to meet further growth is not possible because of the "dead end" at Waitematā railway station which means all trains entering and exiting the station need to use the same two tracks. The City Rail Link project, due to be opened in 2024 is a tunnel between Waitematā station and Maungawhau railway station designed to address these constraints, provide greater route flexibility across the entire network, and create a more direct route for Western Line services. This project will convert the system from a commuter rail network to an S-Train network, providing metro-like frequencies during peak.

Services
There are four commuter rail lines:

Long-distance services
Auckland has two long-distance passenger train services. The first is the Northern Explorer to Wellington, operated by KiwiRail Scenic Journeys, which runs southbound on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and northbound Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The service is mainly tourist-oriented.

The second is the Te Huia regional service, which runs one morning and one afternoon service each way between Hamilton and Auckland via The Base and Huntly. This service was extended from its initial northern termini of Papakura railway station to Puhinui railway station and The Strand Station in January 2022.

Future upgrades
A number of upgrades and extensions to the rail network have been proposed, some for several decades: In 2020, the government announced funding for electrification of the railway line from Papakura to Pukekohe, new railway stations at Drury, a third main line and improvements to the Wiri – Quay Park corridor.
 * From 13 August 2022, KiwiRail will be redeveloping Pukekohe station and the rail line to allow for Auckland Transport’s electric trains to travel between Pukekohe and Papakura. Pukekohe Station will close and the Pukekohe train service will be suspended until late 2024.
 * The Auckland Airport Line, an extension of the Onehunga Branch line to Auckland Airport over the Māngere Bridge
 * An airport link from the North Island Main Trunk line at Manukau City, in addition to or instead of a link via Māngere Bridge
 * Extension of electrification to Pukekohe (including new stations at Drury Central, Drury West and Paerata ), and eventually to Hamilton, although the Te Huia commuter train introduced in 2020 is diesel-hauled.
 * The Avondale-Southdown Line, a line between Avondale in west Auckland and the Southdown Freight Terminal, to allow freight trains to avoid Newmarket and reduce delays for both freight and passenger trains
 * A Third Main Line between Wiri and Westfield to allow freight trains to bypass stationary passenger trains on that section
 * Extension of rail across Waitematā Harbour to the North Shore and possible conversion of the Northern Busway to light rail

In 2022, AT announced 23 new electric commuter trains would be added to its 100% electric fleet, taking it to 95 in total.

History
The first official ferry started in 1854, the first steam ferry in 1860, the first scheduled ferry in 1865, Auckland & North Shore Steam Ferry Co in 1869, Devonport Steam Ferry Company in 1885, a vehicle ferry in 1911 and North Shore Ferries in 1959.

In 1981 George and Douglas Hudson bought North Shore Ferries and Waiheke Shipping Co. In 1984 they founded Gulf Ferries, and their first catamaran, the $3m Quickcat, cut the Waiheke ferry time from 75 minutes to 40, with Fullers putting Kea on the Devonport route from 1988. Fullers Corporation was mainly operating cruises and, in 1987, when they introduced Supercat III, they were refused a licence to compete on Waiheke commuter trips. The Hudsons bought Fullers from its 1988 receivership and formed Fullers Group Ltd in 1994 and Stagecoach took a majority holding in 1998. In 2009, Souter Holdings purchased Fullers Group and also 360 Discovery Cruises.

In 2022, Auckland Transport (AT) purchased four diesel ferries that were in dire need of repair from Fullers, and is upgrading them to reduce their emissions. There are plans to commission five new electric and hybrid-electric ferries, with the first two expected to arrive in 2024.

Services
Around 7 million ferry trips per year were made in Auckland in prior to COVID-19. Yearly patronage decreased to 3 million in 2021, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on public transport.

Most ferry routes start from Downtown Auckland and have no intermediate stops. The ferry operators are:
 * Fullers360
 * SeaLink
 * Belaire (West Harbour and Rakino Island)
 * Explore (Tiritiri Matangi Island, Bayswater and Birkenhead / Northcote Point)

Terminals
The Auckland Ferry Terminal is in downtown Auckland on Quay Street, between Princes Wharf and the container port, directly opposite Waitematā railway station.
 * North Shore terminals: Devonport, Bayswater, Northcote Point, Birkenhead, Beach Haven, Gulf Harbour
 * East Auckland terminals: Half Moon Bay, Pine Harbour
 * Waitematā Harbour's western terminals: West Harbour, Hobsonville

Ferries also connect the city with islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Regular sailings serve Waiheke Island, with less frequent services to Great Barrier Island, Rangitoto Island, Motutapu Island and other inner-gulf islands, primarily for tourism.

There are no ferry services on the west coast of Auckland, although there were some historical services from Onehunga. None are planned, as the city's waterfront orientation is much stronger towards the (eastern) Waitematā Harbour than to the (western) Manukau Harbour.

Ticketing and fares
An integrated ticketing / smartcard system, known as the AT HOP card, was developed for Auckland by Thales, similar to systems like Octopus card in Hong Kong.

The first stage of integrated ticketing came online in time for the Rugby World Cup 2011, with construction works for the 'tag on' / 'tag off' infrastructure having begun in January 2011. The 'HOP Card' was publicised with a $1 million publicity campaign that started in early 2011.

The AT HOP card system went live in October 2012 for trains, November 2012 for ferries and between June 2013 and March 2014 for buses.

In 2016, Auckland Transport simplified fares by changing to a system based on 13 fare zones. The fare is no longer based on the distance travelled (number of stages), but on the number of zones passed through, so that a journey in a zone that involves multiple rides or even a mode mix (bus or train) will be charged only one fare. Ferries are not included in the simplified fares system and are charged per ride.

A national ticketing system has been proposed by Waka Kotahi which will "improve public transport for New Zealanders through a standardised approach to paying for public transport which will provide a common customer experience no matter where you are in the country." Auckland is set to receive the system by 2026.

In 2023, AT announced bus, train and ferry passengers would be able to 'tag on/off' with contactless payments (debit/credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay) in addition to AT HOP cards within 12 months.

Public advocacy
A number of groups advocate for improving public transport in Auckland. Some groups operate prominent blogs, participate in public discussions on social media and prepare plans advocating for particular improvements. These groups include:
 * Greater Auckland
 * Campaign for Better Transport
 * Public Transport Users Association
 * Generation Zero