New Matangi Trains

Matangi train

Some laud Johnsonville for its Public transport options and services, but there are several threats to Public Transport services that most residents are unaware of.

These Include:

New road widening

Initiatives scheduled for Morefeild Rd will see the elimination of a great many “park-n-ride” parking spaces between Gothic St and Broderick Rd., with no plans to replace them! Despite WRC and WCC “supporting” Park-n-ride to improve Public Transport use, the elimination of these parking spaces will put more pressure on already totally crowded surrounding residential streets (Wanaka St, Philip St, Dr Taylor Tce, etc) and will have the perverse effect of reducing public transport. meanwhile, WCC are prepared to eliminate this Park-N-Ride for the benefit of Roading, and WRC have refused to add more park-N-Ride spaces due to the “high cost” of Johnsonville land. JCA is lobbying to have both councils increase the Park n ride facilities.

Slow trains

Thanks to “noise” isues with wheels of the new Matangi Trains, they are obliged to run slower, and the circuitous track route – with eleven stops! – mean that its actually faster to commute to the Wellington CBD from the much more distant Lower Hutt, Tawa or even Porirua – than it is from Johnsonville.

Overcrowded busses

Ever wondered why you can never get a seat on a bus at rush-hour? Its because WCC deliberately under schedules buses into Johnsonville. The number of buses scheduled for Newlands and for Johnsonville are the same – about 800 seats at rush hour. yet Newlands buses are 70% full, and Johnsonville buses are over 100% full. The result of this deliberate under-capacity is that commuters are increasingly avoiding all public transport, and driving their cars to work instead!

Slower and poorer bus services

Recent bus reviews have attempted to re-route some services to Johnsonville so they travel through Newlands first – increasing commuter times by up to 15 minutes. Further, a major advantage over buses (rather than trains) is that they terminate far beyond the Pipetea Train Station, instead taking healthcare commuters and patients all the way to the Hospital (in Newtown). Yet recent efforts to reduce but numbers have included plans to terminate buses at Courtney place – a dramatic reduction in service to Johnsonville commuters, especially as “integrated ticketing” is a very distant dream for Wellington.

Johnsonville Hub to be disestablished

WRC plans to move the bus stop currently adjacent to the Johnsonville train station and mall carpark, onto the street on Johnsonville Road outside the Mall.

This will increase the walk home – or to their car – for the vast majority of commuters (thousands per day) who exit buses at this stop, and will destroy the (sensible) integration of both bus and train terminals.

Ongoing WCC attempts to reduce bus services

recent PT reviews attempts to reduce Johnsonville bus services