When the Eastern Busway fully opens in 2027, some East Auckland bus routes will change to make the most of the new dedicated bus corridor. Bus services will be redesigned to provide better connectivity between services and busway stations, provide more buses, and make it easier to reach more destinations.

Some of these changes will take place in 2026, while others will occur once the Eastern Busway fully opens in 2027.

We are also proposing to extend all AirportLink services from Manukau to Botany Town Centre as part of the Airport to Botany (A2B) project in 2028-29, providing a faster and more direct connection between East Auckland and the Airport.

We have some ideas on what the improvements should look like, but we’d like to hear what you think about the routes, the hours buses will operate, and how frequent services should be.

*Peak times are from approximately 6am to 9am, and from 5pm to 7pm, Monday-Friday. Check timetables online for each service.

From April 2026:

• The new 37 route will be introduced between Manurewa – Clendon – Puhinui Station – Preston Rd – Highbrook.

• As a result of introducing route 37 and to avoid duplication, route 352 will be adjusted to travel via Greenan Drive, Bellingham Road and Accent Drive. This change will provide a direct connection from the south of Flatbush and the Ormiston area to Highbrook.

From December 2026:

• The 35 will have improved evening frequencies to every 30 minutes and have later services on Sundays.

• The 353 will start earlier on weekdays and Sundays.

When the Eastern Busway opens:

• The 37 will be extended to end at Pōhatu Station (Burswood).

• The 351, 352 and 353 will be modified to use Pōhatu Station.

From mid-late 2026:

The 356 is a new service that will replace the 314. It will connect Ormiston and Flatbush with Manukau Station, Ōtara, and Middlemore Hospital.

• Every 20 minutes at peak

• Every 30 minutes at all other times during weekdays

• Every 30 minutes on weekends and public holidays

The implementation of the 356 is dependent on the completion of new local roads and infrastructure.

From December 2026:

• The 711 will run every 20 minutes during peak times Monday–Friday in the peak direction (Howick to Panmure in the morning, Panmure to Howick in the afternoon), and every 30 minutes in both directions at all other times, including weekends and public holidays.

• The 712 will run every 15 minutes during peak times Monday–Friday in the peak direction (Bucklands Beach to Panmure in the morning, Panmure to Bucklands Beach in the afternoon), and every 30 minutes at all other times, including weekends and public holidays. There are extra trips added at school times.

• Both services will use the bus lanes adjacent to the Rā Hihi flyover to access Pakuranga Station.

There are three local services from Half Moon Bay and Bucklands Beach that go to Botany – the 733, 734, and 735.

From December 2026:

• The 733, 734, and 735 will run at least every 30 minutes all day, Monday–Friday, weekends and public holidays.

• The 734 and 735 will continue to connect to the ferry.

Please note that the electric ferries are being introduced to the Half Moon Bay to Downtown route. The timing of the charging windows could mean a longer wait between bus arrivals and ferry departures for selected services. Detailed timetables will be released later in 2026.

AT is investigating taking these services through to Pōhatu Station (Burswood) to create better connections and access to the Highbrook services (37, 351, 352) once the Eastern Busway opens.

Evening frequencies will improve to every 10 minutes from 9pm.

The 72C and 72M will run every 20 minutes during the day (including weekends) to create a bus every 10 minutes on Pakuranga Road between Howick and Panmure.

During peak hours, the 72X will have half of its services starting from Howick and the other half starting at Meadowlands and travelling via Cockle Bay. This bus will no longer start or finish at Botany Town Centre or serve Litten Road.

You will still be able to travel to and from Botany Town Centre on the 72C and 72M.

The 72X is likely to use double decker buses to meet increasing demand without adding more buses.

These services will use the bus lanes adjacent to the Rā Hihi flyover to access Pakuranga Station.

We propose a new peak-only 706 service between Ormiston Town Centre and Panmure via the Eastern Busway. It will run in one direction only during peak times – in the morning it will travel to Panmure, and in the afternoon it will travel from Panmure.

The 706 service would:

• Use the same route as the 35 to get to the Eastern Busway, but will not go to Botany Town Centre.
• Run every 15 minutes and alternate with the 35, creating a combined 7-8 minute frequency between Ormiston, Botany and Panmure.

We propose to extend all AirportLink services from Manukau to Botany once construction is complete. For more information about the project construction, please visit the AT website