RWC: Rail authorities look to streamline trips

Fans wait for trains returning to Britomart after the All Blacks Tri-Nations match last week. Photo / Michael Craig

Auckland's transport authorities will aim to knock 20 to 30 minutes off rail journeys after passengers faced bottlenecks at Kingsland train station after Saturday's match.

Trains carried 16,500 fans to and from the test at Eden Park. While travel times from Britomart to Kingsland were exemplary before the match - around 20 minutes - some passengers had a long wait on the return trip.

Queues of penned-in fans stretched along Sandringham Rd, and Kingsland train station remained packed 40 minutes after the game finished.

The longest journey from Eden Park to Britomart via the free service was believed to be around an hour.

World Cup boss Martin Snedden said the bottlenecks would have to be eliminated for the tournament.

"It probably lengthened their trip by somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. From our point of view that's not good enough," he said.

"There's no room for complacency, let's just make sure we nail it for Rugby World Cup."

For the small group of people in temporary stands who complained that they missed the opening minutes of the match, Mr Snedden warned fans needed to prepare ahead on match day.

"People need to get there early. The reality is, for Rugby World Cup, there will always be very, very big crowds."

The near-sellout crowd of 53,000 was the largest at Eden Park in 55 years.

Auckland Transport aimed to have all platforms cleared 70 minutes after the match.

While this was achieved, many passengers found the delays at Kingsland train station frustrating.

Rail journeys to West Auckland from Morningside went more smoothly, with nearly all passengers cleared from platforms within an hour.

Craig Inger, the manager for Veolia operational projects, said the trains service moved about 14,500 people in the first 70 minutes after the game "just as we planned".

"We always try and improve with each game but we moved a very large number of customers, about a quarter of the people at the game, as quickly as possible."