Rail-bus link cheap way to reach airport

Travellers and workers are being offered a cheap new way of reaching Auckland Airport, by rail and bus in less than hour - if all goes well.

A trip by the Herald yesterday morning from Britomart to the airport, with a bus connection at Papatoetoe railway station, cost $8 and took just 52 minutes.

That compares with at least $55 by taxi on a good day - or up to $100 at the busiest times - and $15 on direct bus trips to and from the airport which can take from 38 minutes to over 60.

Although a direct airport rail link may be decades away, a new half-hourly bus service offered by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority from central Manukau via Papatoetoe is being seen as a helpful step.

The authority has contracted Pacific Tourways to provide the service between 4.15am and 11pm seven days a week. Airport company chief executive Don Huse says it will be a boon for young shift workers needing safe transport.

It is in addition to the existing direct Airbus Express service, which yesterday boosted services from downtown to the airport to a 15-minute frequency between 4.30am and 10pm.

That compares with previous departures every 20 minutes, and buses have begun operating on a more direct route up Queen St instead of a central Auckland hotel circuit.

Airbus operations manager Gary Fitzsimons acknowledged a $7 price difference between his service and the composite trip taken by the Herald by rail and bus, but noted that it did not rely on transport authority subsidies and offered greater convenience for baggage-laden travellers.

Although the only other passenger when a Herald reporter transferred from a train to Pacific Tourways' bus at Papatoetoe at 9.25am was a Manukau City transport official, Mr Huse was confident the service would be well patronised once word spread among the 11,000 people travelling to jobs each day around the airport.

"Obviously private transport, taxis and shuttles are going to be an important part of the future, but those roads aren't going to be able to accommodate the volumes that require access to the airport."

Airport food and beverage chief Anne Singe said she believed the new service would help her greatly with recruiting, as lack of transport options had been a real "stumbling block".

Pacific Tourways operations manager Paul Williams said travellers on long-distance buses arriving at Manukau City had already started using his service to reach the airport from cities such as Rotorua and Wellington, saving up to 90 minutes from having to get there via central Auckland.

Although the transport authority is not promoting the composite rail-bus link as the main way of reaching the airport from Britomart, Manukau City transport planner Steve Wrenn said it might prove faster at peak times on the outbound journey.

He acknowledged that travellers and workers heading the other way were likely to experience delays with trains at Papatoetoe, but hoped that connection could be improved over time.

When the Herald caught the Airbus service back to central Auckland around midday, it took a minute less than the outbound rail-bus trip.

AIRPORT LINKS

Trip 1: 52 minutes
Britomart to the airport by train and bus. Cost $8 (rail ticket - $4.80 to Papatoetoe; bus ticket - $3.20 to airport).
8.50am - leave Britomart by train.
9.22am - arrive at Papatoetoe, walk over footbridge to bus stop in Shirley St, next to railway station.
9.25am - bus leaves for airport.
9.42am - arrive at airport international terminal.

Trip 2: 51 minutes
Airport to Britomart by bus. Cost $15 all the way.
11.44am - leave airport.
12.14pm - reach Symonds St at the city end of Mt Eden Rd.
12.35pm - reach Britomart.