Huge crowds expected for Adele concerts

20 March 2017

Huge crowds expected for Adele concerts

It’s time to start planning ahead if you’re going to the Adele concerts this week.

Around 45,000 fans will head to Mount Smart on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday nights in the biggest series of shows this year.

Public transport is a great way to get to the concerts, but services will be very busy and there may be delays. On Thursday night the show begins at 7.30pm – right at the end of peak for normal public transport services.

Arrangements for these shows are different if you’re travelling from the North Shore - there won’t be event buses from the shore. You can travel free into the city on Northern Express services from 3.30pm by showing your concert ticket, when you reach the city follow the signage to the event buses or the trains. There will be extra services on the Northern Express before and after the concerts.

Group Manager AT Metro Operations Brendon Main says, “We are putting on extra buses and trains but we will be stretched particularly on Thursday. We’ve even brought in bus drivers from outside Auckland to help. We’re asking everyone to be patient but there will be queues, you may have to wait for a service.

“Our advice is to travel early to allow plenty of time to get to the stadium and if you’re a commuter on the Southern or Onehunga Lines it would be a great if you could travel before 5pm.”

On Thursday the special event buses will operate from a temporary stop on Quay St between Britomart Place and Tangihua St (near Les Mills) starting at 4pm. On the weekend the buses will depart from Quay St between Queen St and Customs St. After the concert there will be a departure point on O’Rorke Rd on the left hand side facing Church St, just past Gate C.

There will be additional trains before and after the concerts on the Southern and Onehunga Lines to and from Penrose, it’s a 10 to 15 minute walk to the stadium.

After the concerts on Thursday and Sunday nights there will be special late ferries to Devonport and extra Northern Express buses.

If you’re heading to the Thursday night concert, you will be travelling during peak evening traffic. Your journey will take longer than usual to get to the stadium area. If you’re not heading to the concert, but usually travel home via the southern motorway, you may want to travel off-peak to avoid possible delays.

There will also be some temporary parking restrictions and road closures in the area of the stadium.

For full details on public transport to the concerts go to: https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/events/adele/

ENDS

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