Petition calls for bus stop at Meadowbank train station

Tuesday, 15 August 2017

St Johns Residents Association member Richard Roxburgh is petitioning Auckland Transport to reroute bus 729 past the Meadowbank train station.

Meadowbank residents are fighting for better bus connections to their local train station.

More than 1000 people have signed a petition asking Auckland Transport (AT) to alter the final routing for central Auckland's New Network to extend the 729 bus line down Manapua St to the Meadowbank train station.

A post-consultation map showing the newly routed 729 (green) bus line.

The New Network is an AT initiative to integrate public transport across the city into a single system.

It would result in the 729 bus running along Bonnie Brae Rd and then turn right into Meadowbank Rd, leaving a 550 meter walk to the station.

The closest bus stop to Meadowbank station, 550 meters away from the train.

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The petition said the walk was a major barrier to the use of the trains because of how time-consuming it was.

Concerns were also raised about elderly or disabled residents - notably those living nearby at the Meadowbank Retirement Village - who found the hill to and from the station a struggle, and the limited parking nearby which had become clogged up throughout the day by commuters using the trains.

The petition was presented to AT on Wednesday last week.

Meadowbank resident and St Johns Residents Association member Richard Roxburgh said it was strange the bus route stopped so far from the train station.

Meadowbank was one of the few rail stations in Auckland which did not have a direct bus connection, Roxburgh said.

Responses from residents had been overwhelmingly positive and public support was high, he said.

'People have told me it's a no brainier, they can't believe this isn't happening.'

Roxburgh was encouraged to start the petition after successfully influencing AT into connecting Meadowbank and St Johns to their in-zone schools and Mission Bay.

AT spokesperson James Ireland confirmed the likelihood the bus would be extended to Meadowbank station once the New Network for the central suburbs was implemented in July 2018.

However, details regarding the final decision would need to be made in conjunction with Orakei Local Board, Ireland said.

The New Network map noted further investigation was necessary to see if buses would have the required room to turn around and there was suitable space for a bus stop and shelter, he said.

A meeting with Orakei Local Board had been organised to discuss this.

Orakei Local Board chairman Colin Davis said the board welcomed the opportunity to work with residents and AT in looking at options for better connectivity to the train station.

The petitions aligned with the boards draft Local Board Plan, which aimed to ensure people could easily access public transport, David said.

Meadowbank Retirement Village spokesperson Jim Newfield was in full support of a route change.

'I see all around me people who have got no chance of walking from here down to the station and back to catch a train,' Newfield said.

A bus stop closer to the station would give residents more autonomy for getting around, he said.