On Monday, Azaria Howell reported in the NZ Herald, that in Wellington “replacing trains with buses on maintenance days is expected to be the norm for at least a decade, as the region works through a renewals backlog.” Meanwhile, in Auckland, disruptions continue on the rail network, which is undergoing a major rebuild ahead of the City Rail Link opening sometime in 2026. With all this negative coverage in the news, it’s important to discuss how these challenges have come about, why it is strategically important to fix them, and how we do that.
