Brian Rudman: Transport plan leaves rail in the slow lane

Ministry of Transport chief executive Robin Dunlop faces a torrid series of meetings in Auckland this week as he tries to explain why key funding for the region's public transport revival plan is being diverted into road building.

Just three months ago the Auckland Regional Land Transport Committee voted for a revised $11 billion, 10-year regional transport strategy that plans to spend almost as much on public transport as on new roads.

The revision followed the Government's promise there would be more money to solve Auckland's transport problems, but only if public transport was a large part in the solution.

But about a month ago, the Government funders, Land Transport New Zealand, told Auckland officials that some of the money for a key part of the public transport package, the upgrade of the rail infrastructure, was no longer available. They were told to convert the five-year programme into an eight-year one.

What Wellington wants delayed is the core improvements needed to make the rail network workable. This includes double tracking the western line, replacing the signalling system, buying trains that don't break down, and fixing up the stations.

Money is short for public transport because the cost of road improvements continues to rocket, partly due to the lack of competitive pricing a shortage of road building capacity brings. Another factor is a greater acceptance that highways have to be environmentally acceptable.

That means the State Highway 20 Avondale extension will now cost between $830 million and $1 billion, and Alpurt B (the Northern Motorway extension) has nearly trebled in price over five years from $120 million to $330 million.

Joel Cayford, chair of the Auckland land transport committee, outlined the setback in last Friday's Herald, pointing out how LTNZ officials had first told the committee to rewrite their budget by cutting Government's contribution to Auckland transport's 2005/06 capital spend from $88 million to $60 million. This was followed by the request to spread the rail upgrade out to eight years.

He also made the point that while cars will remain Auckland's dominant form of transport, the "rail project offers the region huge transport and decongestion returns for every dollar invested".

He says that for less than the cost of completing SH20, the whole rail network can be upgraded - including a link to the airport.

The carrying capacity of the under-utilised rail corridors can be increased from "their present paltry 2500 people an hour in each direction to more than 12,000. That is the equivalent to the capacity of a new eight-lane state highway from the south of Auckland through the CBD out to the west."

They're old points, but need retelling when a Government under pressure in the polls seems to be giving in.

The Government set up structures like the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and said the money would be there if Auckland came up with a solution to our congestion woes.

Auckland has done its bit, including the public transport component the Government required. But now, when the money runs short, what gets the squeeze? The rail upgrade.

If there is a shortfall, then public transport should be the last to suffer. To think, in five years' time we could either have a new rail network, zapping commuters across the region, or we could be stuck in traffic reading about the resource consent hearings for the Avondale section of SH20.

Getting back to Dr Dunlop, who we remember better as the head of state road builders Transit New Zealand. He does have one ace up his sleeve and that's the surplus $500 million Finance Minister Michael Cullen miraculously found following one of the Government's recent opinion poll setbacks.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that $400 million will go to roads, and a miserly $100 million on public transport. No doubt there will be some sort of geographic rationing as well.

So let's say that Auckland's in line for $170 million all told. Dr Dunlop's going to be told in no uncertain terms this week that the first priority for this windfall should be to keep the region's public transit plans on track.

And if the Government wants to keep its Auckland supporters on side, it should be saying the same.