Fears of ‘backlash and mockery’ played into new Auckland rail line names

Transport officials weighed up the Government's stance on te reo when deciding against Māori language names for Auckland's new City Rail Link (CRL) train lines.

They also took into account concerns that abbreviations for the titles finally settled on could be open to "backlash and mockery" from customers and the media, leading to a late adjustment.

Documents obtained by 1News reveal the naming — finalised mid-last year — stretched across three years and five different approaches before narrowing to an eventual showdown between te reo bird names and directional labels.

The names settled on after extensive debate were: Onehunga West Line (O-W), East West Line (E-W), and the South City Line (S-C).

Auckland Transport (AT) said potential customer confusion was the main reason for its decision to go with the geographic names.

New names are needed for rail lines as all of Auckland's train services will be re-routed when the $5.5 billion CRL opens in the second half of this year.

A spokesperson for AT said: "The directional line names met customer needs better than other options, including the bird names. This was the key reason for the decision.

"Although cultural considerations, including the use of te reo Māori, were acknowledged, the overriding priority was customer comprehension and uptake in a newly integrated network where new travel patterns and options for travel will be implemented."

Internal presentations from late 2024 noted bird names would provide "placemaking and storytelling" and align with Te Huia train service naming.

But advice also flagged "current government sentiments to consider" and "possible te reo backlash" from the public as factors to also consider.

AT said while the coalition government's shift in the use of te reo Māori in public service settings had been considered, it was not a main factor in the decision.

The transport agency said it had no direct communication with central government or ministers over the naming preferences.

When it came to power three years ago, National agreed to put English names of public agencies first, such as NZTA and Health NZ, as per its coalition deal with NZ First.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith also acted last month to affirm English as being an "official language" in New Zealand law, though it's already a de facto official language.

The final set of te reo names considered included the Mātātā line replacing the Eastern and Western lines, which will become known as the East-West line.

Meanwhile, the South-City line was picked over the Tūī line, which replaces the Southern line. The Hīhī line would have replaced the Onehunga line. Naming a line after the kuaka was also kept as an alternative option if others were deemed unworkable.

But directional names were seen as lower risk, keeping within timing requirements and needing less customer education, though internal documents noted reputational risk of a "missed opportunity" and public scrutiny.

The three new rail lines will carry geographic names and two-letter codes.

AT said the letter codes — "E-W' for East-West, "O-W" for Onehunga-West, and "S-C" for South-City — will be prominently displayed on maps and station signage.

Transport officials considered a range of naming options.

Several different ideas were considered in the process for naming the new train lines, including the geographic names, an alphanumeric system — similar to the ones used in Sydney — and two which would have incorporated te reo.

Under one option, lines would have used bilingual colour coding, with English shorthand codes followed by reo names, such as "Kākāriki/Green Line" or "Whero/Red Line".

The decision was finalised by the CRL's programme control group, made up of executives and senior managers who oversee all works involved to launch services.

Shorthand abbreviations for the new lines — "EW", "OW" and "SC" — were changed after an urgent memo last June raised concerns they could be misinterpreted and subject to "backlash or mockery" from customers and media.

"Specifically, EW could be interpreted as 'ew' (gross) and OW as 'ow' (ouch)," it read.

"Internal feedback and advice from external consultants have raised concerns … We seek your expert assessment on the risks associated with each option of customer or media backlash or mockery."

AT explored adding hyphens or centred dots to the abbreviations, but found train display systems could not support dots and were unlikely to be updated before opening day.

Hyphens were added to the abbreviations to also aid people using screen readers.

Transport officials had sought out advice on naming the train lines and also carried out panels and focus group research into what Aucklanders thought of the choices.

A report covering research across eight focus groups suggested "there was little difference in the scores between the two naming options" and "the scores for ease of understanding and level of confidence were high."

The reo bird name option also "elicited greater emotional reactions and connection with the story of place". Separate research by international consultants, Maynard, said reo names could "set Auckland apart from global, Euro-centric transport systems".

Te reo Māori names had already been selected for the CRL's four stations before the line naming process was complete.

The station names — Waitematā, Te Waihorotiu, Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhau — were gifted by the CRL's Mana Whenua Forum in 2022 and approved later that year. But the process for finding a name for the new train lines themselves was strained.

AT's executive leadership team had initially pushed back against the directional names, with internal documents recording that "not all of executive leadership team believed the proposed names were 'the best we could do'."

In July 2024, after the customer experience team recommended the geographic approach as a low-risk option, members requested an alternative — one that "addressed the connection with people and place".

That led to the te reo bird names being developed over August 2024 in consultation with the agency's Māori Outcomes team. But when the bird names were formally presented, it appeared the agency reversed course.

Minutes from the meeting recorded that "bird names were presented, but the ELT agreed names need to be clear and intuitive and support customers on their journey".

By September, internal presentations acknowledged the ELT "wasn't aligned on this decision." One executive noted the timeline was "not realistic" for the bird names and suggested revisiting them "at a point in the future".

AT said it regularly engages with mana whenua through established forums.

"Following korero with the southern iwi, unanimous feedback from testing indicated that the priority was to ensure people understood where they are going therefore the geographical names were preferred to name the rail service lines."

A spokesperson for the agency also "noted" the decision does not prevent future train line naming convention changes.

Naming research cost a total of $18,736 — comprising $11,035 in capitalised time and $7700 in participant recruitment — according to AT.

The transport agency said it could not provide further itemised costs as the remaining work to develop and evaluate options had been carried out by AT staff.