Transdev Auckland, formerly Veolia Transport Auckland, and Connex Auckland was a subsidiary of

Transdev Australasia Transdev Australasia is an operator of bus, ferry, light rail and heavy rail services in Australia and New Zealand. It is a subsidiary of French-based, international Transdev. It was formed in 2013 by grouping the operations of Veolia Transport ...

that ran

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

's urban passenger trains under contract from

Auckland Transport Auckland Transport (AT) is the council-controlled organisation (CCO) of Auckland Council responsible for transport projects and services. It was established by section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and operates under ...

on infrastructure owned and managed by

KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) responsible for rail operations in New Zealand and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ell ...

. Auckland Transport receives funding to subsidise these services from the

NZ Transport Agency NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA), superseded by is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, and administering the New Zealand st ...

, which receives funding from road user taxes and Crown appropriations, and from the

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

through rates. Transdev also operates

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

's commuter rail services as Transdev Wellington since July 2016.

History

The previous operator of the train network in Auckland was Tranz Metro. When the Auckland Regional Council called for tenders for the new contract, Tranz Metro did not tender and Connex (later Transdev) won the tender. Transdev in a consortium with John Holland and CAF was shortlisted to bid for the next contract in 2021, but lost out to Auckland One Rail. Transdev Auckland ceased on 15 January 2022.

Network

Transdev operated services on the following lines from Britomart (effective 12 March 2017): * Eastern Line services run along the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

(NIMT) via Glen Innes to Puhinui, then diverge onto the Manukau Branch to the

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, ...

terminus. * Southern Line services run out of the Britomart tunnel on the NIMT, then the Newmarket Line to Newmarket, then the

North Auckland Line The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's Rail transport in New Zealand, national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newm ...

to Westfield Junction (just north of Westfield - a station permanently closed since March 2017), and then the NIMT to

Papakura Papakura is a suburb of South Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. The ar ...

, with a diesel train shuttle service between Papakura and

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The town is located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Puke ...

. * Western Line services run out of the Britomart tunnel on the NIMT, then the Newmarket Line to Newmarket, then the North Auckland Line via Henderson to

Swanson Swanson is a brand of TV dinners, broths, and canned poultry made for the North American and Hong Kong markets. The former Swanson Company was founded in Omaha, Nebraska, where it developed improvements of the frozen dinner. The TV dinner busi ...

. * Onehunga Line services run out of the Britomart tunnel on the NIMT, then the Newmarket Line to Newmarket, then the North Auckland Line to Penrose where they diverge onto the Onehunga Branch to the terminus at

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is ...

Rolling stock

At conclusion

Transdev operated the following rolling stock: * 72 AM three-car

EMU The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

s (built by CAF) running on all lines since full electrification in July 2015 (except Papakura - Pukekohe shuttle) * 8 ADL/ADC two-car DMUs (ex

Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...

) owned by Auckland Transport The AM class wear the Auckland Transport livery, and the ADL class wear the MAXX livery.

Former

Transdev operated the following rolling stock until full electrification in July 2015: * 20 DC locomotives owned by KiwiRail, operating in push-pull mode with 20 sets of three or four SA cars and an SD driving car with driving cab and remote controls (ex

British Rail Mark 2 The Mark 2 family of railway carriages are British Rail's second design of carriages. They were built by British Rail workshops (from 1969 British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL)) between 1964 and 1975 and were of steel construction. Developme ...

carriages rebuilt for suburban service), owned by Auckland Transport. The carriages are stored at

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of T� ...

and the locomotives have returned to KiwiRail."Ticket to Ride" e.nz magazine, July/August 2007 Volume 8/4, pages 24-28 * 4 DFT/DFB locomotives owned by KiwiRail, operating in push-pull mode with six-car sets (five SA, one SD), now back with KiwiRail * 9 ADK/ADB two-car DMUs, in storage All diesel rolling stock and locomotive-hauled carriage stock is in MAXX Blue livery, except four locomotives which were in KiwiRail livery.

References

External links

* {{Transdev Public transport in Auckland Rail transport in Auckland Railway companies established in 2004 Railway companies disestablished in 2022 Railway companies of New Zealand Transdev 2004 establishments in New Zealand 2022 disestablishments in New Zealand