As Auckland heads into March madness, a proposal has come forward for a new train service between Pukekohe and Huapai.
March Madness - the perfect storm of public transport users and motorists creating chaos on the city's transport arteries, and a new rail timetable on March 12 - will place more pressure on the city's new electric train fleet, says the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA).
It is proposing a new service between Pukekohe and Huapai using some of the city's old diesel locomotive train fleet owned by Auckland Transport and currently in storage in Taumarunui.
The PTUA said it would serve a rapidly growing region suffering chronic congestion on State Highway 16 and require only one slot on the western and southern line in each direction per hour for hourly trains from Huapai - about 15km west of Swanson where the western line currently finishes.
PTUA chair Christine Rose said the service would address current capacity problems - rail patronage soared to 18 million journeys in the year to December 2016 - and provide a seamless journey from one end of Auckland to the other without having to change trains.