First CRL test train
Wednesday, 12 February 2025 will go down in Auckland’s history books as the day the first City Rail Link test train, EMU AM836, was driven through the new tunnels.
The train was driven by Grant Dowie, supported by other members of AOR’s CRL team including Mark Jones, Paul James, and Joel O’Dea.
CEO Martin Kearney congratulated the team for reaching this important milestone: “It’s been a huge amount of work to get to this point and I am sure everyone involved is very proud”.
Above: AOR’s Chief Operating Officer Gavin Panter (centre, seated), takes part in the signing of the Safety Stage Gate 4A1 the day before the test train ran.
Right: Driver Grant Dowie, far left (in front of Paul James in cab doorway) and the support team at The Strand ahead of AM836 heading to Waitematā (Britomart) to start the test run.
The speed of this first trip was deliberately slow –around 5km/hour, allowing technicians to complete their first round of underground checks and balances relating to tunnel clearance, power supply and signalling.
The 3.45-kilometre-long journey ran south from Waitematā under central Auckland to Maungawhau Station on the Western/North Auckland Line.
With safety being the No.1 priority, exhaustive safety checks were carried out before the train could run on the 25,000 volts of electricity needed to power it.
Testing will continue and when ETCS approvals are given, speeds will increase to over 40 km/h to check tunnel clearance and then to full speed (up to 70km/h), then hands-on driver training will get underway.
Check out the YouTube video of the first test train journey by clicking on this link.
The 3-car train left Waitematā on time at 9pm and took 2.5 hours to complete its first journey.
Pukekohe Station reopens
Another big day that will go down in Auckland’s history books is Monday, 3 February when electric trains ran for the first time from the newly opened Pukekohe Station. CEO Martin Kearney and COO Gavin Panter travelled on the first EMU from Pukekohe to Britomart, with driver Dion Lynch and TM Cameron. Other ELT members took the first EMU out of Waitematā heading to Pukekohe to greet customers travelling on the first services.
The day before on Sunday, 2 February the local community was invited to visit the station and new Transport Minister Chris Bishop officially opened the station along with other representatives from AT and KiwiRail. AOR CEO Martin also spoke, thanking staff who had been involved in the P2P project, including staff who were instrumental in setting up the new depot.
Train Service Manager Morgan Mollot (above) was TM for VIPs who took a return trip to Papakura on Sunday. Grant Dowie (right) was the driver.
Pictured with Facilities Manager Deirdre Oelofse.
Above right: Transport Minister Chris Bishop.
Far left: Members of Pukekohe’s Community Patrol check out the new station.
The Love Train
Commuters on the Southern Line on Valentine’s Day felt the love onboard the “Love Train”.
The Breeze radio hosts Robert Rakete and Jeanette Thomas handed out chocolate hearts and talked with passengers about what the day meant to them.
They travelled from Waitematā (Britomart) to Pukekohe, return and even caught up with a couple of our staff!
If you were listening in, you might have heard our own Head of Learning & Capability Fran Burke (below left) and Customer Service Ambassador Carlenna Green (below right).
Fran gave an insight into the number of romances that happen between rail people, admitting that she herself was married to someone in the rail industry. Carlenna talked about being an adrenaline junkie with multiple tattoos and piercings.
Summer rail buses
We may not have been operating trains over the Summer shutdown but our customer service staff were still hard at work helping customers with alternative transport options, including rail replacement buses.
Stop 7005 outside the H & M store on Customs St was a major hotspot, requiring several staff during peak travel times.
Many of our customers commented on how happy they were to have trains back when the network partially reopened on 28 January.
Shout Outs
I've just returned home from a long day via a 15.53 Western Line train from Newmarket to Swanson.
I wanted to let you know about an EXCELLENT train manager on that trip who really made my day and the day of several of the commuters.
He made the most beautiful, warm and fun announcement as we travelled between Grafton and Kingsland. It put lots of us in good spirits, received applause from the people in my carriage and I felt uplifted and part of something much bigger than my little old insular self.
It was wonderful. I thanked the train manager for bringing such joy to my day. I hope that AOR holds onto him and that he's thanked, praised and rewarded for his work.
Sincere thanks for your very helpful staff at the Britomart station (3 of your staff have approached my dad - an Octogenarian - and me separately to suggest the use of elevator over the escalator).
A female conductor on the 15:30 Southern Line (to Papakura) train in particular assisted my dad to board the train and gave us ample time and support. Excellent service.
Hey even though its so painful with no trains I wanted to shout out re the signage and Customer Service you have for RBS. Panmure Station is really good with clear signs, helpful people posted around and the RBE buses are really great.
Hurry up with trains but thank you for the good workaround.
Farewell Francis Francis
Just wanted to drop some friendly feedback - we visited the Newmarket Train Station today as my two-year-old boy is train mad.
The train driver that spoke with us - as he switched to drive the train “backwards” - made my son’s day.
He was telling his grandparents later that he saw a train driver.
The staff were very friendly and helpful and were doing a great job.
Wanting to send a compliment to the lovely team working the rail bus stop in Britomart this afternoon.
I witnessed them go above and beyond to help a customer who couldn’t speak English and also found someone’s phone. They were positive, smiling and lovely despite the pressure and tense atmosphere. I hope this gets passed onto them (and they get a raise!)
Customer wanted to place feedback about the two gentleman that helped her today at the Panmure Train Station at approx 12.20pm.
Customer caught the 11.58am eastern line train from Britomart to Panmure and as they tagged off her granddaughter realized she had left her bag onboard the train.
The staff member overheard the conversation and called staff onboard the train and the train came back with the bag.
The customer said she is very grateful that the staff went out of their way to help.
Good luck to Customer Service Ambassador Francis Francis (being fed a slice of cake) on his retirement. Francis started in rail in February 2007 as a Passenger Operator.
Five years later he became Station Assistant, then a CSA.
I would like to pass on my compliments on the newly reopened Pukekohe service.
The train from Ellerslie was on time and quick.
Congratulations!
All the hard mahi has paid off.
New starters in 2025
Kia ora koutou and welcome back for another busy year of mahi, we hope you all had a good break and thank you to everyone who worked through the shutdown period.
We had our first TM and LE induction of the year on 4 February for our newest TMs who started on 6 January and our drivers who started on 9 December (pictured below). A big thanks to our trainers who worked over the break with our new trainees.
On 20 January, Louise Pengelly started with us as the Director CRL Operations and on 3 February we welcomed and Catherine Laskey, our new CFO (see below) and Stephen Kalapala, our Asset Engineer (Mechanical), to the team.
Welcome to:
Back L-R – Lawrence Taufa (TM), Matthew Budd, Bradley Andrews, Neal Vansolkema, Alex Faumui (LEs).
Front L-R – Mark Evans, Tauryn Payne, Mua Lemoe (TMs), Ricky Dragland, Jiwon Kim (LEs).
As mentioned above, Catherine Laskey (above left) has joined us as our new Chief Financial Officer and Louise Pengelly (below left) has joined us as our new Director CRL Operations.
Louise brings more than 20-years’ experience in strategy development and programme management, having led large and complex commercial initiatives across aviation, airport infrastructure and rail. Most recently, she served as Programme Director for Operations Transformation at KiwiRail, and prior to that, was at Air New Zealand working on the Auckland Airport Terminal Development programme. Louise also spent two decades in the UK, working in programme management at Heathrow Airport before transitioning into rail. Throughout her career, Louise has contributed to major projects such as the West Coast Route Modernisation and the Hitachi Rail manufacturing unit in the UK. She is also a Board member for the Civil Aviation Authority.
Catherine has been with Kordia Group Limited, most recently as Group Chief Financial Officer having started there as a Financial Accountant in 2004. Before that role she worked at Young & Rubicam Advertising and Arthur Andersen (New Zealand and Canada). Catherine is also a Member of the Institute of Directors New Zealand.
Please join us in welcoming both Louise and Catherine to AOR.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY
Have your say! 24 February - 9 March
AOR’s biggest asset is our people and it’s important that we hear what you have to say, so we can see what’s working and what can be improved
We have partnered with Core HR again this year and we want to hear from you, stay tuned for the survey launch on 24 February via email/txt
New AOR Award
This year we have added “Operational Excellence” to the awards you can nominate your colleagues for.
The previous “TRACKS Values Award ” will also now be known as “AOR Values Award”, and will relate to the new values that we will be implemented, which are:
• Safety is everyone's priority
• We value acting with integrity
• We value treating one another with respect
• We value being one team
If you see you colleagues going above and beyond, please nominate them for one of the following:
If you’re not sure what category to nominate your colleague for, just email the details and we can make sure they go into the most relevant award.
Please email: communications@aucklandonerail.co.nz
AOR Safety Message 2025
January saw a 60% reduction in reporting due to the extended BOL across the majority of January. There were no significant operational events on the network over the January period but the rail replacement teams continued to manage anti-social behaviour incidents.
One significant incident occurred by Newmarket entrance where a male was knocked out by another member of the public. AOR staff supported this incident professionally in conjunction with Police and Ambulance staff.
Papakura to Pukekohe has opened with staff training continuing over the next couple of months.
The public response has been hugely positive to this line reopening.
AOR Health and Safety Representatives Elections to be held between Feb - Mar 2025
Our Health and Safety Representatives are your primary contact for any health and safety-related issues, including potential hazards, near-miss incidents, or other concerns, and your input is invaluable in helping us identify and mitigate risks.
As AOR grows, we are looking for more Health and Safety representatives to better support Health and Safety in AOR. Some of these positions will be support roles and some will represent on the Health and Safety Committee. If you have an interest in Health and Safety and identifying health and safety improvements, then we are looking for new volunteers who will be shining examples of the AOR Safety culture.
SAFETY EXPRESS
Security update
• There were 0 reported assaults on staff and 11 reported public assaults in January involving multiple domestic disputes and youths fighting.
• 4 reports of theft in Jan however one major episode of vandalism reported at Mt Albert station by 3 male and 1 female youth.
• 16 trespass reports a 68% reduction from December due to the closed network.
• An improved security deployment plan was put in place for over the network closure resulting in 0 graffiti attacks on rollingstock and a 70% reduction in graffiti attacks on station with 14 reports in Jan.
• HSQESS has built a strong relationship with the police which is resulting in increasing prosecutions of disorderly individuals. We provide CCTV footage of incidents to help identify and apprehend offenders. This collaboration ensures offenders can be trespassed or prosecuted for any offences on the network.
Wellbeing update
• Two staff reported work-related injuries in January, but did not require time off work.
• There were three injuries involving slips and trips at separate locations of which only one staff required medical attention.
• All those injured were referred to the RMO.
• Random drug and alcohol testing occurred at Henderson and Papakura depots with all tests being negative.
Rail Safety update
• January saw a 60% reduction in incidents, from 412 to 159.
• Only 10 incidents were reported to NZTA.
• Near misses reduced by 50% this month.
• Two trespasser incidents occurred on the Western Line both involving emergency brakes.
• No incidents involving potential selfharmers in Jan.
• The 12-month rolling SPAD rate to January was 1.18/million km.
• KiwiRail did have a SPAD A on the network which is under investigation.
