Viva La Buses: Auckland Transport Braces For Coldplay Rush

Tuesday, 12 November 2024, 9:03 pm
Article: RNZ

Auckland Transport (AT) is confident the city's public transit system is ready for 150,000 Coldplay fans.

The British pop-rock band is playing three concerts at Eden Park on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, each expected to draw 50,000 people.

Ticket holders are being offered free bus and train rides from 3pm on concert day, with doors opening from 5pm and Coldplay themselves expected to take the stage after 8pm.

AT hopes an extra 90 buses on Wednesday and Friday, and an extra 100 on Saturday, will keep things running smoothly.

"We've got extra buses, extra trains, we've got ambassador staff on the ground to help customers with wayfinding to be able to leave the station and get where they need to go," AT spokesperson Rachel Kara said.

"We recommend people plan ahead, aim to arrive early and allow plenty of time to travel. We've got walking options, cycling options, lots of public transport."

Cyclists could take advantage of a bicycle valet service at the neighbouring Kowhai Intermediate School car park.

Meanwhile, Kara hoped a colourful walking trail would take some pressure off the roads.

"There's a fan trail, a walking trail that starts at Te Komititanga Square at the bottom of Queen Street and it goes along K Road, up Great North Road and then connects to Eden Park," she explained.

"There'll be lots of fun activities and live music along the way."

That included "party stops" with music, roaming circus entertainers and sign-making stations.

The band is in the middle of a three-year world tour, wrapping up in London next September.

A sky full of planes

Air New Zealand had to add 22 more flights to Auckland this week to accommodate the influx.

The airline said it was shaping up to be one of its busiest weeks of the year for the domestic network, with more than 230,000 customers expected.

Friday was set to be the busiest day, with 40,000 passengers in the sky.

A rush of foot traffic to the beds

Viv Beck of business association Heart of the City said there was a lot of excitement following the recent Pearl Jam concert.

"We certainly saw the benefit last weekend, and there's a lot of buzz and excitement around now in the lead-up to Coldplay.

"We definitely saw foot traffic increases over the weekend. We had good anecdotal feedback from the hotel operators that people are here to stay, and we can see that coming for the weekend as well - and it looks like we're gonna be over 90 percent occupancy on Friday night, probably some last-minute bookings as well."

Some rooms RNZ looked at were going for $700 a night, minimum.

Beck said AT was "on its best behaviour" and "getting in the spirit of it".

She said the P!nk concert earlier this year saw $6.5 million injected into the economy.

"I remember getting on a bus coming back from Eden Park, full of pink people coming into the central city, and that was exciting."

© Scoop Media

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