Shaping Auckland: How light rail will change the city

The tram system that connected all corners of Tāmaki Makaurau was torn up in favour of a car-focused transport system in the 1950s. What will it take to reverse that change?

When the Auckland Harbour Bridge opened in 1959, connecting Auckland to the North Shore, its four lanes were heralded in the Auckland Star as “a new era of city progress”. Prime minister Walter Nash hailed it as “an event of nationwide significance.” 

On opening day, over 14,000 cars made the journey over the harbour, but a few breakdowns and empty fuel tanks meant within five hours of opening there was already a queue almost 10km long stretching back to Takapuna. Those first commuters wouldn’t have known, but it was a sign of what was to come.