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AOR’s stars celebrated at Annual Awards

At our annual awards event on Friday, 14 November we gathered at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland’s CBD to recognise people in the AOR team who have gone above and beyond in their roles over the past 12 months.

We celebrated our finalists and presented awards to the winners in five categories. AOR employees are encouraged to nominate their colleagues at any time throughout the year.  Each quarter we select category winners, and they become the finalists for the Annual Awards. Safety Stars are recognised monthly.

It’s always a tough decision choosing the best of the best. We’re proud of all our AOR people, who do an amazing job of keeping Auckland’s metro rail service running.

Congratulations to this year’s AOR Awards winners:

Safety Stars

Safety is our priority and one of our four Values. The Safety Star award recognises excellence in contributing to a safe and effective workplace or rail network. It can include incident prevention or improvements to a system or process.

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Joint winners LE Daniel Woods and LE Nick Lee. Pictured with Train Crew Manager Danielle Ah Kuoi and GM HSQESS Lisa D’Oliveira
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LE Charmaine Fitton (absent) received a Safety Star in October 2024 (just after the cut-off for the 2024 Annual Awards)

Customer Champion

Customer service is at the heart of how we serve Auckland residents and visitors. This award recognises outstanding customer service or engagement with customers, or behaviours that encourage colleagues to follow their example.

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TM James Mangi (absent)

Operational Excellence

The Operational Excellence Award recognises outstanding contributions to AOR’s operations, including day-to-day operations, service planning, rosters, scheduling, fleet control, operational readiness, engineering and assets, facilities and station control, driver managers, train service managers, and CRL.

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Manager Planning Yudai Noguchi (left) with Chief Operations Officer Gavin Panter

Maintenance Excellence

This new category was added when we took over Rolling Stock Maintenance in October 2025.
The Maintenance Excellence Award recognises excellence in the care and maintenance of assets including rolling stock (trains), and station and facility equipment. It includes the development and sharing of technical expertise, innovations in processes and delivery, and other efforts that support the reliable performance of the network’s assets.

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Asset Systems Lead Ankita Kedlaya
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Rolling Stock Maintenance Shift Manager Ron Tanomroop, with GM Engineering & Assets Jarryd Sisley

Values Awards

This award acknowledges our people whose excellence in performance (in any area of the business) demonstrates how they are living our values every day.

AOR’s Values are:
One Team  |  Respect  |  Integrity  |  Safety

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TM Junior Keremete (second left) with Tawera Nikau, Train Crew Manager Danielle Ah Kuoi and CEO Martin Kearney
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TM Elsje Speck (absent) was presented with her Values Award in March
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LE Marlo Newman (second left) was a joint winner with TM Elsje Speck