Brian Rudman: ARC misses the boat on new trains

Auckland City started planning the grand, $211 million Britomart centrepiece of the region's new rapid rail system in 1992. When it finally opens in July next year, the bands will play, the flags will flap and the politicians will preen.

The only thing missing will be any new trains. In all the controversy surrounding the project, no one got round to ordering the rolling stock.

The Auckland Regional Council, which is responsible for that side of things, is talking of mid-2005 - two years after the new downtown station opens - as the earliest possible delivery date for the first new trains. And that's only if they have their convoluted competitive tendering processes running by then.

While outside the ARC there's much muttering about their missing the boat - or train - inside, the bureaucrats exude an eerie aura of calm.

They quietly explain the need to follow the processes laid down by law. They take you through the need to draw up a process for deciding what trains are required, to get that signed off by the politicians, then for expressions of interest to be called and then a call for tenders, followed by the selection of preferred tenderer, and so on and on.

It's a process which is unlikely to result in a tender being let until around the time of the grand Britomart opening.

Last week Grant Kirby, the Government-appointed transport advocate charged with getting a rapid rail system up and running, proposed a fast-track solution to the ARC's passenger transport committee. Tranz Rail project manager Neil Buchanan provided technical support.

Their scheme was to convert old British inter-city carriages into four-carriage units, which could be driven from either end. Basically new trains, they would cost only $5 million apiece and, if ordered now, the prototype would be completed by July next year, with further trains pouring out at one or two a month.

Those at the meeting report that officials, and committee chair Catherine Harland, were frosty, though several of the elected councillors showed more interest.

But an offer by Tranz Rail to bring a similar conversion - being used on the Palmerston North-to-Wellington route - to Auckland for inspection was turned down by Ms Harland.

It was a pity the councillors who expressed their interest in the scheme - such as Chamber of Commerce chief executive Michael Barnett - didn't force the issue. Surely, seeing a train conversion similar to the units being offered to Auckland will help the decision-making process.

There seem to be two main objections to the rebuild proposal. First, they are not brand, spanking new. Second, it's a fast-track proposal which will breach all the Byzantine rules of competitive processing to which ARC officialdom is so wedded.

So far the officials seem to be ruling the roost. It's time the politicians fought back and exercised some of the power we elected them to wield.

We need an improved train service from Britomart from the day it opens, not in two or more years' time. Otherwise the drawcard effect the new station should have on will have long worn off.

Last week the committee did agree to the refurbishment of 10 of the 19 existing diesel multiple units (DMUs) which make up the existing Auckland train fleet. That will cost around $8 million and give them another 10 years of life. Most of this upgrade will be completed by Britomart opening day.

As for the other nine, they're well past their use-by date. They have no air conditioning and Tranz Rail warns that they're structurally much weaker than is now considered desirable to run on mainline services.

In other words, they're too clapped out to repair.

At present, the Auckland service needs 14 DMUs, plus two for back-up. That leaves just three in reserve. The chances of being able to maintain the existing services until mid-2005, when the ARC is planning to have the first new trains on-stream, are slim. Coping with any increase in demand promises to be impossible.

The ARC has been investigating some emergency back-up schemes. None seems likely. One proposal would use the old Silver Fern railcars, built in the early-1980s for the Auckland-Wellington run.

But even if owners Trans Scenic make them available, there are only three and one of those would probably have to be held in reserve. They are also not suitable for the quick loading and unloading of passengers.

Another option would be to hire locomotives and carriages, but with only one cab they're not really suitable for Britomart.

There's also talk of buying second hand from Japan. The problem there is that even though the track gauge is the same, units are apparently wider than New Zealand trains.

Which brings us back to the British carriage conversions. To my inexpert eye, they seem to be the obvious answer. They have a 30-year lifespan like new units, they are considerably cheaper, and they can be built in New Zealand.

The time advantage is just as important as the cost benefits. When Britomart opens next year we need a decent, reliable and expanding train service to cope with new customers. The existing rolling stock struggles to cope even now. To expect it to handle any increase in custom risks a PR disaster, from which public transport could take years to recover.

The bureaucrats insist on the need for due process, however detrimental the delays.

Yet somehow they found a way around competitive tendering last week in commissioning Tranz Rail to refurbish 10 of the existing DMUs.

If that was possible, surely an inventive mind could find a way through the process maze so that the Kirby trains could be fast-tracked into service by Britomart opening day.