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Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose has given Auckland transport officials a good disaster planning workout - trying to match ultra-late services to his erratic concert times.
Nervous about reports that the temperamental frontman has been leaving it until close to midnight before making stage appearances in Australia, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority has arranged for trains, ferries and buses to carry his fans home from Vector Arena well after the witching hour tonight and tomorrow night.
Trains will leave Britomart in three directions between 1.55am and 2.05am on both nights, setting a record for Auckland suburban rail services.
A ferry will carry fans back to Devonport at 1.30am.
For those wanting to stay up even later, buses will drop fans off at bars and nightclubs along Queen St and Karangahape Rd.
Transport authority spokesman Sharon Hunter said it was no easy task trying to plan services for the veteran rockers' show, although her organisation had recently hired a special events coordinator with wide international experience for such occasions.
She said that although the two concerts were scheduled to finish at 12.30pm, the Vector Arena management had recommended an extra hour's leeway to allow for delays and encores.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported that Rose did not take the stage in Brisbane last week until 11.45pm, and his private Lear jet was on the tarmac in Melbourne warming its engines at 8.30pm, when a support act began warming up his Brisbane audience.
Ms Hunter would not be drawn on the merits of getting his New Zealand fans out of town safely, saying only that catering for late-night events was a natural extension of her organisation's efforts as a transport provider.
Authority customer services chief Mark Lambert said: "We are constantly refining our services for such events as well as for day-to-day travel on Auckland's developing passenger transport network."
