A train driver who failed to stop at a red signal has caused delays on the western line of Auckland's rail service today.

The Government's transport safety regulator has finally decided to investigate the train accident that almost killed a young woman in a wheelchair on an Auckland level crossing.

A group of children say they are grateful to their elderly school bus driver who managed to pull over safely after he was hit by a metal pole that flew through the windscreen.

The woman, now 22, overcame huge odds to get to where she could get around Auckland unaided in her electric wheelchair.

KiwiRail is taking all the blame forlast month's tragic accident at Morningside - yet the company is a state-owned enterprise required to operate as a successful business.

It was the 20th century California Dream: a suburban home, a flash car to get you to and from work and a freewheeling lifestyle. But the dream's flipside was a nightmarish sprawl with an unsustainable footprint.

Auckland Transport says that the Blues pay for their patrons, as do the All Blacks and NZ Rugby League. Cricket, Phoenix and Warriors choose not to contribute, so services are provided at a cost to the patron.

The Auckland plan ignores the potential for modern technology to solve our transport and other problems and, instead, pushes expensive and inappropriate 19th and 20th century solutions.

Taxpayers and ratepayers fork out more than $230 million a year to subsidise public transport in Auckland.

Blind Aucklanders are waiting for voice prompts to be added to rail ticketing machines after months of being unable to use them.

A tunnelling machine dwarfing the world's largest airliner is bound for Auckland, where it will spend more than two years digging an underground motorway.

The future of Auckland's trams is on the line after a sudden decision by the council's waterfront agency to withdraw funds needed to keep them running.

The railway crossing which nearly claimed the life of a woman had been identified by authorities as a top priority for removal.

Youth brawls and intimidating behaviour continue to drive people away from the Willow St bus stop in Tauranga.

New Hobsonville and Beach Haven ferry services have fuelled frustration among hundreds of southeast Auckland commuters about delays to a $12 million upgrade.

Sir Paul McCartney has entertained public transport passengers in New Orleans with a set of Beatles songs.

Employers are rejecting migrant job-seekers without cars as they have little faith in public transport delivering them to work on time, Auckland Transport has been told.

Politicians are upset that an Auckland Transport bylaw may ban mobile election hoardings and put restrictions on others.

Older Aucklanders fear widespread social harm from cutting back their free public transport entitlement, including to organisations relying heavily on their volunteering efforts.

Auckland ferry operator Sealink says trains are gobbling up too much public money, depriving the two-harbour city of superior water transport.

Angry parents in a small coastal town claim changes to a school bus route will put children's lives at risk.

Napier's central Intercity bus terminal is being described as shambolic, chaotic, an embarrassment, a nightmare and a disgrace.

The report does not show, nor claim to show, that the line is viable, only that a wider view of the net costs and benefits to NZ arguably should be considered, writes Stephen Selwood.