{"id":626981,"date":"2026-10-11T03:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T03:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626981\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T03:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T03:46:10","slug":"eden-park-calls-for-station-upgrades-after-bledisloe-cup-train-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/626981\/","title":{"rendered":"Eden Park calls for station upgrades after Bledisloe Cup train delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe want the entire journey, from the street to the seat, to be just as memorable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City Rail Link<\/a> is a gamechanger for Auckland, but we need to ensure the infrastructure connecting people to the stadium can support the opportunities it creates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thousands were waiting well after last night\u2019s match had ended<\/a> to be herded on to jam-packed carriages, with one broadcaster describing it as \u201ca bit of a mess\u201d.<\/p>\n

One fan had to stand the equivalent of half a match to get on to a train at the nearby Kingsland Station.<\/p>\n

\"ThousandsThousands of rugby fans clog streets outside Eden Park waiting up to 40 minutes to catch a train home.<\/p>\n

East-West trains were not ready to leave immediately after the game because a delay to closing [the] Morningside Drive level crossing to cars meant trains could not get in place to line up at Kingsland Station on time, AT General Manager Rail Services Mark Lambert said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing of the Morningside Drive closure was part of the agreed traffic management plan, which AT does not implement, and it was disappointing this caused delays to trains.\u201d<\/p>\n

That meant some fans were waiting up to 40 minutes. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it can be frustrating to wait, huge crowds do take time to clear. A six-car train can carry about 1,000 people, so it takes time for each train to load.\u201d <\/p>\n

AT will continue working with the council and Eden Park to improve how event transport is run, Lambert said. <\/p>\n

He highlighted that trains and event buses \u201ccleared the vast majority of fans\u201d within an hour after the match, meeting the target. <\/p>\n

Lambert said 15,000 fans caught a train to the match while 19,710 in total used special event public transport. <\/p>\n

\"EdenEden Park chief executive Nick Sautner has called for Auckland Transport and Auckland Council to upgrade transport infrastructure around the stadium. Photo \/ Alex Burton<\/p>\n

Sautner said around 40% of operating costs go towards integrated ticketing and traffic management.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the significant cost involved, we expect the transport services and infrastructure supporting our events to reflect that expenditure and deliver the standard of experience fans should expect from a world-class city.\u201d<\/p>\n

A footbridge across Sandringham Rd was planned before the 2011 Rugby World Cup but did not go ahead, while improvements to Kingsland and Morningside stations are critical to support the expansion of Eden Park\u2019s event calendar, Sautner said. <\/p>\n

Bruno Mars is playing three sold-out shows<\/a> at the venue, and the ground will host a State of Origin match next year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise these improvements won\u2019t be delivered in time for next year, but our ambitions extend well beyond 2027, which is why attention needs to be given to them now.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re serious about being a world-class, ambitious city, we need to ensure our infrastructure reflects that ambition,\u201d said Sautner. <\/p>\n

Director of Transport and Infrastructure at the council, Steve Mutton, told the Herald that large events like the test demonstrated the \u201ccritical role\u201d of the Morningside and Kingsland stations. <\/p>\n

The council was considering potential rail station upgrades and level crossing removals as it plans for significant growth in the area. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe want the entire journey, from the street to the seat, to be just as memorable.\u201d \u201cThe City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[74,665,26888,5842,115,10542,16492,8142,2082,85429,1702,101,10543,111,139,11550,69,8143,1534,213,16674,13655,2742,11685,38485,32632,10510,3608],"class_list":["post-626981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-after","tag-around","tag-bledisloe","tag-calling","tag-calls","tag-cup","tag-delays","tag-eden","tag-for","tag-improvements","tag-infrastructure","tag-left","tag-match","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nights","tag-nz","tag-park","tag-saturday","tag-sports","tag-stadium","tag-station","tag-thousands","tag-train","tag-trains","tag-upgrades","tag-waiting","tag-were"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}