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Transport
If you are unsuccessful at first, form a working group and try again. Tim Murphy reports on the latest attempt to develop light rail from Auckland City to the airport.
Plans for a multi-billion dollar light rail track from downtown Auckland to the airport are back, with a task force formed to consult with Auckland residents and come up with a year-end business plan.
After a failed attempt to develop a light rail project last period, sidetracked by a late tender for a public-private partnership involving the New Zealand Super Fund and then blocked by New Zealand’s first ‘handbrake’ over government policies, it is clear that this is important. spending on transportation will be financed by the government.
The work is not showing any ‘once bitten, twice shy’ response to that failure, and the latest work sticks to the light rail all the way to Māngere. It is not retreating to be just a city to the Mt Roskill line along Dominion Rd. The CC2M corridor (central city to Mangere) is the focus of this new initiative.
It was the second of two major policy initiatives raised again Wednesday that the government has presented to working groups, but unlike public broadcasting, the light rail announcement didn’t even mention those involved.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said it would take six months for the light rail “establishment unit” to develop plans for what he called the largest “city configuration” project since the 1950s, the Auckland Harbor Bridge. . Interestingly, that would make it larger than the current City Rail Link job, which is expected to cost $ 4.4 billion.
Wood was unable to name the person he said would be the unit’s independent chairman, indicating a new announcement “in the coming weeks.” But he said the unit, which involves Auckland Transport, Waka Kotahi, the Ministry of Transport and Kāinga Ora and reporting to him, Finance Minister Grant Robertson, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore, began their work on Wednesday.
The minister said the unit would “determine the best shape for the delivery entity” but then gave it two options for public ownership and management: “City Rail Link Ltd or a new joint venture with Auckland City Council.” This was the first time that the light rail project was officially handed over to the company that was running the gigantic Auckland subway.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff was clear in his response to the announcement that the project would be “fully funded by the central government”, while the City Rail Link was shared and Auckland needed to find an additional $ 500 million in 2019 when the costs skyrocketed.
Goff also mentioned the light rail line that goes to the “airport compound”, words absent from Wood’s statement that only spoke of Māngere.
“While the deadline for the establishment unit is tight, and a business case is expected to develop over six months, we all want to see progress on this important project for Auckland,” said the Mayor.
Wood claimed that Auckland residents had been excluded from the earlier light rail process, although it was led by his predecessor minister, Phil Twyford, and in its initial phases at least relied on many years of lobbying and advocacy by public transport groups. and urban development that had inspired Transport Labor Policies.
“There is broad support for rapid transit, but Auckland residents felt left out of the project. Today, I am drawing a line below that and involving Auckland residents from the beginning.
“Light rail is a critical investment in developing a modern and connected public transport system in New Zealand’s largest city, supporting jobs, growth and housing.”
Emphasizing that the route would go through the airport, Wood said there were economic and climatic benefits to running the light rail.
“Without decisive investment in public transport, Auckland will stifle in its own growth. Light rail will support growth in Māngere, Onehunga and Mt Roskill in particular, connecting these communities and giving people the option to leave the car at home. , which will help reduce congestion and emissions. “
Labor’s transportation policy also involved the development of a light rail route along the Northwest Expressway into growth areas in the upper west of Auckland. But that still seems in the future, possibly for a different working group.
Woods said: “The city center to the Māngere line will be a backbone that will eventually connect to the north and northwest, forming a rapid transit network that is fully integrated with other forms of transportation in the city.”
Woods anticipated criticism that Labor had once again moved a task to a task force. “I know some would have liked me to announce a ready-to-go project today, but I also want to be absolutely sure that the plan we are moving forward with is the right one.”
Kainga Ora, the former Housing NZ, is developing large housing developments on land in Māngere and Mt Roskill, and the government says 17 percent of the city’s population growth through 2050 will occur in the CC2M corridor.
The NZ Super Fund, while licking its wounds from last year’s proposal collapse, has now shown its enthusiasm to engage with its “investment approach” in other New Zealand infrastructure projects.
A spokesperson said: “Last year NZ Infra [its light rail venture] presented a world-class, innovative and fully funded proposal to achieve an urban transformation facilitated by light rail from Auckland city center to Māngere and the airport. It included a robust cost / benefit analysis and was backed by extensive global experience and expertise in light rail delivery.
“The Ministry of Transport identified this as meeting the Government’s goals of linking employment, education and communities, integrating Auckland’s current and future rapid transit network, including extensions to the west and north, enhancing the environment, allowing integrated quality urban communities and providing a high quality service. that would be attractive to users with high levels of patronage.
“While we will not be involved in the execution of this project, the NZ Super Fund remains open to exploring options to apply our investment approach to other projects to help New Zealand overcome its infrastructure deficit. We have developed a set of capabilities and relationships that allow us to bring capital, experience and innovative thinking to a variety of projects in transportation, housing, energy, water and other opportunities. “
