Four stops on CBD rail tunnel wish list

Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee has asked officials to consider adding more underground stations to a proposed $1 billion to $1.5 billion rail tunnel below the central business district.

He wants a $5 million study commissioned by KiwiRail and his council's transport authority subsidiary to consider doubling to four the number of stations proposed for a 3.4km route between Britomart and Mt Eden via Albert St.

Until now, only two stations in the vicinities of Aotea Square and Karangahape Rd have been suggested for the study's purposes of recommending a preferred route.

But Mr Lee has baulked at a suggestion by council member Joel Cayford, a former regional transport committee chairman, that the study also consider future underground connections in other directions from the tunnel.

"Let's not get too complicated - this is about the CBD tunnel and we have to justify it to the Minister [of Transport, Steven Joyce] and as soon as possible," Mr Lee told Dr Cayford and other councillors.

Mr Joyce has annoyed Auckland City Mayor John Banks, Manukau Mayor Len Brown and Mr Lee by saying he remains a long way from being convinced about the need for the tunnel, which the authority says would cater for patronage growth beyond 2021 by turning Britomart into a through station on an inner-city rail loop.

The minister suggested a fortnight ago that mayoral candidates for the Auckland Super City refrain from creating "a bidding war to see who can wish for these things quicker".

Regional officials have listed the tunnel second behind rail electrification in an assessment of transport priorities against strategic regional objectives.

The regional transport authority predicts an inner rail loop will make downtown Auckland accessible to 370,000 people on train trips of 30 minutes or less, and that a station near Aotea Square would become busier than Britomart by being handier to more people.

Mr Lee, despite his cautionary advice to Dr Cayford, nominated Wyndham and Victoria Sts as possible sites for two extra stations to cater for a growing inner-city population of apartment dwellers.

Regional council transport general manager John Smith said that although an initial assessment appeared to indicate that the two station locations already under consideration would offer "a pretty good catchment of the whole city", he would ask the study team to undertake more work on the issue for a report before Christmas.

Dr Cayford said although the route study would consider providing a future connection with potential North Shore rail services, he believed it should also look towards a link with the southern line at Parnell via the university and hospital precincts.