Wairarapa Train Services: Survey Results

Wairarapa train services: survey results Introduction Greater Wellington Regional Council carried out a survey of passengers on the north-bound Wairarapa trains on 22 June 2011 as part of the Wairarapa Public Transport Service Review. A total of 725 completed forms were returned. We would like to thank passengers and train-staff for your help with this survey. A summary of the results are shown below. The full survey report is available at www.gw.govt.nz/wairarapareview Where people live and how they get to the station About 25% of passengers live in each of Masterton, Carterton or Featherston. A further 13% of passengers live in Greytown and 6% in Martinborough. Sixty-eight percent of passengers travel to the station by car (57% parking their car at the station and 11% being dropped off). A further 23% of passengers walk or cycle to the station and 7% use the bus. Origin and destination The main boarding station in Wairarapa is Featherston (33%), followed by Masterton (28%), Carterton (25%) and Woodside (12%). Most passengers (85%) are going to Wellington, with the rest (15%) going to the Hutt Valley. Why people use the train, and purpose and frequency of travel The main reason people said they use the train is because it is cheaper than taking the car (56% of passengers) and a significant number also said it is quicker than driving (29% of passengers). Comfort (45% of passengers) and ability to work on the train (47% of passengers) were also important. Twenty-six percent of passengers also indicated that it’s environmentally responsible and 20% said they had no other transport option. [Note: passengers could give more than one reason for using the train] Ninety percent of passengers are going to work, and 81% use the train four or more days per week. Trains used and preferred train times The most popular train departure times from Masterton are 5:45am (37% of passengers), 6:21am (40%) and 6:48am (21%). The other passengers were on off-peak services. The most popular train departure times from Wellington are 4:25pm (50% of passengers) and 5:30pm (38%). The 6:22pm has 7% of passengers. The other passengers were on off-peak services. Passengers indicated that their preferred arrival times in Wellington align well with the current train arrival times with most people wanting to arrive in Wellington around 7:30am, or between 8:00am and 8:30am. However passengers indicated that the preferred departure times from Wellington do not align quite so well with current train departure times. Most people wanted to depart Wellington at 4:30pm, 5:00pm or 5:45pm. The Friday night train has been used at some time by 35% of the survey respondents. Twenty-three percent have used the morning weekend trains at some time, and 21% have used the afternoon weekend trains. Fares and ticketing Fifty-four percent of passengers use adult monthly tickets, with 33% using ten-trip tickets. Thirty-two percent of passengers said they would be prepared to pay higher fares for service improvements. Ten percent of passengers would pay up to $1 more per trip and another 17% said they would pay up to $2 more per trip. Passenger views on possible changes and suggestions The responses to the possible changes suggested in the survey form are set out below. Support? Suggestion Yes No More peak services/more capacity 86% 13% Make one train express 73% 26% More off peak services 72% 27% More weekend services 66% 33% Remove Friday night service 42% 56% More refreshments 38% 62% Major event services 78% 20% More space for cycles 35% 64% Other comments Reliability was by far the major issue raised in general comments, accounting for 25% of all comments. Not keeping to the timetable was the main concern. Delays caused by units, especially at Upper Hutt station, also received many comments. The next major issue related to capacity, and in particular there not being enough seats for all passengers. Many respondents said they have had the experience of standing for the whole trip. Most problems seemed to be with trips from Wellington, with many mentions of Upper Hutt people taking seats that should be available for Wairarapa people. Several suggested that the configuration of the trains should be altered, with more carriages used on the busy trains and less on the less busy services. Many comments were received on fares. Many said the service is expensive, and commented that fares should not be increased until the reliability and capacity issues were resolved. There were many positive comments. There were several comments that if the reliability and capacity issues could be solved, the service would be excellent. The comfort of the carriages, and the train staff, all received many compliments. What happens next The train survey comments will be fed into the overall review of Wairarapa public transport services, which will be considered by Greater Wellington Regional Council (which funds and plans public transport in the region) at the end of this year. The major issues arising from the survey are currently being investigated. These include: • Introducing a small surcharge on Wairarapa train fares to fund the conversion of the six SE carriages (currently being used on the Upper Hutt line, and needed on that line until mid 2012) to enable them to be used on the Wairarapa line, thus reducing the capacity problems. The size of the surcharge will depend on the costs to convert the SE carriages. It is still likely that there will be three peak-time trains (because fitting a fourth train into the system is difficult), but if the SE carriages can be added to the current pool of 18 Wairarapa carriages this will enable more carriages per train • Providing off-peak (including weekend) shuttle trains between Masterton and Upper Hutt, linking with the electric trains at Upper Hutt. Possible timetables are being considered, and the cost implications assessed • The possibility of changing the number of carriages on each service (including taking a carriage from the 6.22pm train and putting it on the 4.25pm) Wellington, to better reflect demand • The possibility of changes to departure times from Wellington. We will keep you informed. .

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