Date: 5 November 2026
Nights out in Auckland will get a City Rail Link boost, with trains soon to run every 15 minutes until 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights.
The changes coming on November 22 are part of the first upgrades to Auckland Transport’s City Rail Link-enabled train timetable. They also include more peak-time services between Kingsland and Henderson, giving west Aucklanders more choice during the busiest parts of the day.
“As Auckland heads into a busy summer, it will soon be easier for people to use more frequent evening rail services to go to restaurants, bars, gigs and events,” says Auckland Transport Chief Executive Officer Stacey van der Putten.
“Running trains every 15 minutes until later in the evening gives more people flexibility to make public transport part of their plans for enjoying everything happening in Auckland as we head towards the festive season.
“We are seeing more people choose public transport for everything from commuting to nights out, these changes are about keeping pace with demand and responding to that.”
When the City Rail Link opened two months ago, train frequencies increased from 20 minutes to every 15 minutes throughout the day. From 22 November that increased frequency will be extended three hours to 11pm on Friday and Saturday, providing an extra 48 services a week.
Auckland Transport is also making improvements to peak services on the East West line.
From Sunday 22 November, East West line services running between Sylvia Park and Kingsland will be extended all the way to Henderson, improving the peak frequency and train intervals between Morningside and Henderson Stations.
Waitakere Councillor Shane Henderson says it has been great to see how popular trains from the west have been, but for some customers the initial launch timetable didn’t line up with their workday.
“I’m happy to see that has now been addressed with extended peak services so more people have time savings from trains coming every seven to eight minutes.
“We said from the beginning that launching the City Rail Link was just the start. As customers and rail staff settle into the new network and travel patterns become clearer, we're able to make further improvements that deliver more frequent services where they're needed most.”
That means there will now be eight trains an hour, with services arriving every seven to eight minutes. The change will extend 110 services each week to stations between Morningside and Henderson.
“Our expanded rapid transit network, with new city centre stations and new rail lines connected to frequent buses, means there’s access to more parts of Auckland by rapid transit, shorter travel times and improved reliability of public transport,” says Councillor Henderson.
Since the City Rail Link opened, Aucklanders have embraced the new rail network in record numbers. More than 108 thousand train trips were taken on Friday 30 October, making it the busiest day on record. A packed calendar of events and continued strong daily passenger numbers also contributed to the busiest October on record with 2.1 million trips recorded.
Further changes to the timetable are expected early next year, with peak frequency increases set for the South City line between the City and Ōtāhuhu.
-ENDS-
Notes for editors
After 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays trains continue every half hour until last trains from the city between 12.30am and 1.18am, depending on the destination.
The new timetable will be available on Journey Planner, the AT Website and the AT mobile app from November 8.
Auckland Transport also runs 35 different night bus services connecting key destinations across Auckland with frequent services until late and services after midnight. Find out more here.
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Auckland Transport helps Aucklanders move and connect every day through great public transport across Tāmaki Makaurau. Our role is to provide convenient, reliable, safe and accessible public transport services.
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