About

I’m Jon C. Welcome to AKT. This site covers the latest news around (mainly NZ) transport. Join in the debates but please keep it friendly. Together, we are making a difference.

I had begun this in January 2009 after family and friends at Christmas got bored with my endless stories about how bad it was trying to catch an Auckland train. To shut me up, they suggested I start a daily online diary on my attempts to catch an Auckland train. I also wanted to  create an historical online record of the major rail & motorway development taking place. as the media didn’t seem very interested in recording it.

Over time, that train service has much improved, and electric trains and integrated ticketing are now on the way.

This site’s traffic numbers and interest in the subject have grown so AucklandTrains has become AKT as it has now expanded to cover developments from motorways, cycle trails, a new harbour crossing to a look at city development. On its first anniversary, AKL had jumped into the list of the top 30 NZ blogs.

Unlike some, my aim here is not to be famous and get on the 6pm TV news. This is not about me, not some self-indulgent rant claiming I’m an expert or talking about what I had for breakfast (it’s always muesli with fruit and yoghurt if you care!!).

This is about transport, a serious issue that  affects all of us every day.

So this site is a place  for you to find out what’s new, engage in debate and try to persuade others, including decision-makers, some of whom do check in here.

For the record, I’m just a train guy but also drive a car, bike, mountainbike, and catch the odd bus. And I walk a lot. I’m passionate about cities being great places to get around and enjoy,

I appreciate your interest.

Enjoy and participate!

Best,

Jon

PHOTOS are mine unless stated.  Use of mine is under Creative Commons (non-commercial use only, advise me,  link to & attribute to this site). Some in the train history section are from those on public display at Britomart or Motat. If any photo published that isn’t mine has copyright issues, let me know.

I take photos of public places like train and bus stations. It’s inevitable people appear in them. There is no law requiring you to seek permission of anyone photographed in a public place. But if you have been snapped and that photo is published on the site – and you are unhappy about it, just let me know.

When viewing photos on the site and you want to see a bigger version, click on it to enlarge it.

Want to CONTACT ME? Have a tip? Seen something interesting?  To get in touch, I am best via email. Just go to the Contact section here but to send photos, you can’t attach photos using the contact form so send to aucklandtrains at gmail as in gmail dot com

If there is a comment published that you find personally objectionable, discuss it with me. I want people to have a good experience here.

Together we will make a difference. I welcome all feedback.

iPhone users: Check out the special iPhone-friendly version of this site. Just access aucklandtrains.co.nz on your iPhone for a great experience .

Twitter: I alert when I publish new posts on Twitter If you Tweet a train delay on twitter use hashtag #akltrains

YouTube:Check out the Aucklandtrains channel