Auckland's $1.14 billion rail electrification project is chugging into the home straight, ready for the arrival in September of the first of 57 zippier and quieter trains.

There has been a call to quicken up the process for holiday makers heading north of Auckland by introducing a text message payment option on the Northern Gateway Toll Road.

The Kingston Flyer tourist steam train will resume commercial operations on January 4.

Who is your driver tonight? That's the question police want all New Year partygoers to consider - before the celebrations begin.

Motorists are being reminded of lane closures on the Auckland Harbour Bridge as its annual maintenance gets underway.

Removing roadblocks to allow for decisive action on Auckland's critically important economic growth agenda is emerging as the top issue in early 2013.

Military bosses were told "it is important the RNZAF does not cover up" its illegal shipment of pyrotechnic canisters which endangered hundreds of lives.

A police officer has told how he picked up the phone of a driver killed in a road crash and found a half-written text message on it.

Editorial: The reactions of Len Brown and Gerry Brownlee when the City Centre Future Access Study was released made it seem barely conceivable they had read the same report.

Periodically, calls are made for a rapid expansion of the population of New Zealand - 15 million has been identified as a desirable target.

The Government has been accused of being a Christmas Scrooge and increasing petrol prices in order to protect its promise to get back into surplus in 2014-15.

Increased petrol tax and road user charges will hit consumers hard in these tough economic times, the National Association of Retail Grocers says.

Nabbing speeding drivers in Northland used to be a rather covert affair, but in a drive to make the region's roads safer a speed camera van is no longer incognito.

The Government will increase petrol tax by three cents a litre each July 1 for the next three years, with road user charges being increased by an equivalent amount.

Some people get their thrills pulling wings off flies. National Cabinet ministers engage in more drawn-out torture, writes Brian Rudman.

A $140 million four-lane motorway officially opened in Christchurch today was a "remarkable achievement" given the city's earthquake damage and disruption, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said.

Gerry Brownlee and Len Brown have clashed over a report recommending plans for Auckland's proposed rail link. Do we need it? Vote here.