Johnsonville?s public transport bugbears
The Johnsonville train line is the most used public transport route of all train, bus and ferry routes in Wellington city. A Wellington City Council report shows that users find the infrequency, hours of operation and journey times are their biggest bugbears. Johnsonville Progressive Association transport spokesperson Tony Randle says he does not understand the Greater Wellington Regional Councils plans to invest several million dollars in expanding the capacity of the Johnsonville Line, while doing nothing to expand park and ride.? ?Central Johnsonville suffers serious street parking problems from car commuters trying to get to trains and buses right now ... the roading improvements promised by the WCC will actually reduce the numbers of all day parks,? says Mr Randle. Over the next 10 years, 10,000 more residents are expected to move into the suburbs around the Johnsonville Line, and the regional council should make ?serious investments? in park and ride, he says. ?It is for this sort of poor planning that local residents are now demanding our transport infrastructure be fixed to meet the demands of a successful, growing community.? ?The fact the GWRC and WCC don?t even seem to talk with each other doesn?t help,? he says. According to Mr Randle the GWRC hired Australian consultants to complete a public transport review of Johnsonville, but neglected to tell residents or even the WCC. As most Matangi trains are planned to be used on the Western and Hutt Lines at peak times, Johnsonville commuters will not ride the new Matangi trains and the older Ganz Mavag units will be used. ?Public transport in North Wellington is a mess and there is no clear and agreed plan to fix it ? residents have to keep holding our councils to account to deliver promised improvements to both,? says Mr Randle. KiwiRail senior communications advisor Ruth Larsen says the condition of Johnsonville Station is better than others on the network, in terms of the position of the platform for the new Matangi trains, its surface and its frontage. ?It does not require the same major reconstruction as other stations such as Pukerua Bay, Simla Crescent or Redwood Stations. ?However we will be doing some upgrade work there in 2010 but the details of that work are still being finalized,? says Mrs Larsen. Meanwhile, Redwood Station in Tawa will close temporarily in early February to allow for more than $1million worth of improvements to the station platforms. Both platforms at the station will be demolished and completely rebuilt.
