Ask Phoebe: Costs of landslide repair and risk to public shunt the Rainforest Express into mothballs

Frogparking sensors help detect when spaces are free.

Inspired by your recent question regarding the One Tree Hill little train, I am wondering about a slightly bigger one, the Waitakere Tramline.

According to a statement on their website, "Watercare suspended the operation of the Rainforest Express in May 2013, following a major landslide that caused significant damage to the track."

This message was last updated in July 2014, but now, what gives? When will it be open again?

I've grown up in those ranges, and when I finally decided to go on it, it's closed! I'm sure many kids, and, well, "kids" like this 34-year-old would love to see it open again. Jarrod Hook, Auckland.

It was announced on Monday that Watercare has decided that the Rainforest Express will remain out of service indefinitely.

The decision will also mean an end to the passenger service previously operated by the Waitakere Tramline Society.

Public use of the Upper Nihotupu and neighbouring Waitakere tramlines was suspended in May 2013, when a major landslide caused significant damage to the Upper Nihotupu tramline.

An independent geotechnical report has identified 20 at-risk sites across both tramlines, nine of which posed a significant risk to public safety. The report put the cost of reducing risk to an acceptable level for public use at these nine sites at more than $11 million, and noted that even then, the residual risk could be "significant".

Watercare chief executive Raveen Jaduram said that did not take into account the risk posed at other sites along both routes, which would be very difficult to identify and almost impossible to mitigate.

A new device has appeared in at least one Auckland street (Bellwood Ave, near Eden Park) - an in-ground sensor set into the road in the very middle of each diagonal parking space.

I've not come across such a device in any of my travels, so perhaps you could explain what it is and how it works.

Chris Kiwi, Mt Albert.

It's called, delightfully, frogparking.

Thirty-six solar-powered parking sensors developed by Palmerston North company Frogparking have been installed in angled parking spaces on Bellwood Ave, off Dominion Rd.

The sensors detect when a car has parked over top of them. When the vehicle leaves, the sensor sends this information wirelessly to a digital sign on the main thoroughfare.

Drivers can tell simply by looking at the sign on Dominion Rd (on the lamppost outside the BNZ) how many spaces are available and whether they should bother turning into Bellwood Ave.

Auckland Transport said it was installing the parking sensors as part of the Dominion Rd upgrade.

"The sensors and real-time information signage are currently being trialled on Bellwood Ave to ensure the electronic systems operate satisfactorily," a spokesperson said.

The Frogparking system is also in place in Porirua and, of course, Palmerston North.

What is the name of the music and composer played during the TV ad for KiwiRail? Lyn Whitcombe, Auckland.

It is from Georges Bizet's opera The Pearl Fishers.

The aria is Au fond du temple saint (In the Depths of the Temple), sung by the opera trio SOL3 MIO - brothers Pene and Amitai Pati and their cousin Moses Mackay.

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