545,000 passengers in March delights rail chiefs

Auckland's recovering rail network has hit a new patronage record by carrying more than half a million passengers last month.

The March total of 545,000 passenger trips was almost 100,000 higher than the previous monthly high of last August, Auckland Regional Transport Authority chief executive Alan Thompson said yesterday.

It was also 39.4 per cent higher than the patronage figure for March last year, which he said was clear evidence that Aucklanders were ready for better public transport.

"Aucklanders have been starved for decades of the public transport infrastructure and services that other comparable international cities have enjoyed," said Mr Thompson, who migrated from Australia to set up the transport authority as an Auckland Regional Council subsidiary.

ARC chairman Mike Lee said: "Commuters have sent us a clear message: build it, and they will come."