ARC wants trains on Manukau Harbour crossing

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Transit New Zealand will be urged to make room for an Auckland Airport rail link in a new highway crossing of the Manukau Harbour.

The Auckland Regional Council's passenger transport committee wants a planned review of the region's land transport strategy to consider rail services to the airport via the Onehunga branch line.

It will ask the Regional Land Transport Committee to include possible station sites in the review and has told staff to work with Transit on options to ensure rail to the airport is included in the crossing project.

Although construction of a $100 million crossing is five or six years away, Transit has already consulted the Auckland and Manukau city councils and community boards on its preference for a duplicate bridge.

This prompted regional council transport chairwoman Catherine Harland to propose that staff work with Transit to ensure rail is not closed out.

It is understood Transit has been prepared to consider a rail configuration across the Manukau, but has been waiting for an approach from the council.

Council member and rail advocate Mike Lee welcomed Ms Harland's proposal, which the committee adopted, but voiced dismay at the guardedness of an accompanying staff report on the feasibility of passenger services on the 3.56km branch line from Penrose to Onehunga.

The line was opened in 1873 as part of the first Government-operated railway, for 12.8km from Auckland, and extended to the Onehunga Wharf five years later for boat train passengers.

Although 14 trains a day ran in its heyday, the rise of private motor vehicles led to the withdrawal of passenger services in 1964 and of special workers' trains nine years later.

But rail advocates say the time is ripe to resurrect the line, because of much greater road congestion these days and Onehunga's growth as an urban centre and potential transport hub just 23 minutes away from central Auckland by train.

This same growth could conversely raise difficulties for train operations and prospects of laying and electrifying a double track, however, as apartments are starting to crowd a 7m to 11m rail corridor.

The council report, meanwhile, says not enough rolling stock or train crews will be available until 2008 to start passenger services and suggests only about 300 people will use these in the morning peak by 2011.

At the same time, it says capacity constraints at Britomart will prevent Onehunga services continuing once a new branch line runs to the Manukau City centre in five years, and suggests Auckland's old Strand railway station may have to be reinstated as an alternative terminal.

This was greeted with derision by Mr Lee, who referred to Onehunga Mall's former name in saying the exciting point of the exercise was to create a "Queen St to Queen St link."

"It seems to be absolutely off the planet if the officers are talking about going back to the Strand," he said.

He accused planners of a "disappointing lack of vision" and pointed to the popularity of an unannounced extra trial service from New Lynn on the western line as an example of demand exceeding expectations.

"Why not institute a similar trial service from Onehunga?" he said.

"If we want to get 25 to 30 million passengers on to rail in the next decade or two, we have to make a start.

"It is irresponsible to have a railway line sitting there rusting, publicly owned but not maintained properly."