What will and won't change with the CRL opening

Auckland is days away from its brand-new train network, but what exactly will that mean for fares, timetables and train lines?

The opening of the City Rail Link on 13 September has been a long time coming for the city, and will bring with it changes to current train lines and timetables.

But not everything is changing with fares and zones that help determine the cost of all public transport trips, remaining the same.

A revamp of the train lines

Aside from the three new underground stations in the CBD, one of the biggest changes will be that current lines will be merged or extended.

What we now know as the Eastern and Western lines will become one, forming the East-West (E-W) line.

This will span from Manukau to Swanson and stop at Waitemata as well as the three new stations, Karanga-a-hape, Te Waihorotiu and Maungawhau.

The Southern line will soon become the South City (S-C) line, running from Pukekoe to the CBD.

This line will do a loop around central Auckland, passing through Newmarket, Grafton, Karanga-a-hape, Te Waihorotiu and Waitemata before finishing in Newmarket.

The Onehunga line will no longer end in Newmarket and will instead be extended to Henderson, becoming the Onehunga West (O-W) line.

This line doesn't go through central Auckland like the other two lines, but has several transfer stations including Newmarket and Maungawhau.

What will this mean for timetables?

Timetables will change for each new line and frequency will be different for peak and off-peak times.

The South City line will run from every ten minutes during peak times and every 15 minutes during off-peak.

According to the AT website peak hours are set to be between 7am to 9am and 4pm to 7pm.

It also stated that during peak hours some trains on the South City line would finish the journey at Waitematā Station instead of Newmarket.

Other lines might also end the trip at a different line, so passengers were advised to check what platform the next train departs from upon arriving at the station.

The East-West line is scheduled every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 20 minutes during off-peak hours.

The Onehunga West line is the only one set to always arrive every 30 minutes.

However, the entire line from Onehunga to Henderson will only run between 9am to 3pm and after 7pm.

Outside these hours, trains will run between Onehunga and Maungawhau only.

What will I pay and how long will my trips be?

Essentially fares are all still the same.

This means overall cost for bus and train trips will be measured by the nine fare zones across Auckland.

The amount you pay will still be determined by where you are starting and ending your trip.

The biggest differences will be in trip lengths and options.

According to AT's Journey Planner, going from New Lynn station to Waitemata at around 8am on a weekday will still be $4.90 but will be a 27-minute ride on the E-W line instead of 38-minutes on the West line.

An AT spokesperson noted that timings are rounded up by the Journey Planner app and some journeys may have an extra minute allotted as more trains could mean more congestion.

Having three new stations in the city fare zone which include Te Waihorotiu, Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhau, will also mean a variation in trip lengths and less bus transfers.

Going from New Lynn to Te Waihorotiu station, for example, will still cost $4.90 but will be a 24 minute ride on the East-West line instead of 40 minutes on the West line with a transfer to the 209 bus at Kingsland.

A trip from Panmure to the new Karanga-a-Hape station on a weekday morning would have been a 37-minute ride on the East line then a transfer to the 18 bus near Britomart, with a total of $4.90.

From Sunday it will cost the same but take 25 minutes on the East-West line.

But not all trips will be technically faster, with the ride from Panmure to Waitemata gaining around three minutes.

Taking the East line from Panmure station to Waitemata at around 8:30am currently takes 16 minutes but will take 19 minutes with the East-West Line.

An AT spokesperson said this can be explained by several factors including the "dwell time" at Waitematā before it continues to Te Waihorotiu and beyond, which is not a factor in the pre-CRL lines.

"Some journeys at busy times have one extra minute timetabled to allow for increased congestion as there will be more trains operating than there are today," the spokesperson said.

"Customers will have a similar journey from eastern train stations to Waitematā, with more frequent trains."

The new city zone stations will also mean less reliance on buses to get around the central regions, meaning you're also not at the mercy of traffic.

Getting from Waitemata to Karanga-a-Hape stations at 8:30am on a weekday is currently a 14-minute trip on the 18 or 11w buses, costing $3. It will soon cost the same but take 10 minutes on the East-West or South-City line.

AT's Stacey van der Putten said passengers were urged to jump on a train at their nearest station.

She added that furry friends were welcome on the trains, provided passengers followed the appropriate protocols.