Brian Rudman: Byzantine manoeuvres over rail rolling stock

They say Afghan politics is fast and devious. But it surely has nothing on the tribal warfare raging within Auckland local government over who is to blow which whistle on the region's new train service.

At present it's the Auckland Regional Council staggering against the ropes, victim of a sneaky ankle tap from regional bankers Infrastructure Auckland and a nasty follow-up mugging from the region's mayors.

But you can hardly blame IA for its underhand tactics. It was only trying to divert the mayors from their planned raid on the bank's gold.

You might recall how, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote of an impending meeting of IA's electoral college, made up of mayors and other local body representatives. At this meeting the regional politicians were going to use newly assumed powers to direct IA to finance the $166 million needed for new rolling stock.

IA has steadfastly been refusing to do this, claiming lack of funds and voicing ideological objections to the idea of things on wheels being "infrastructure".

At the August 30 meeting, IA chairman and former National and United MP John Robertson showed great survival skills by diverting the mayoral posse on to the regional council instead.

Attacking the ARC's just-released and long-demanded rail business plan as "confused" and needing "considerable refinement, assumption testing and option exploration", he called on the electoral college to abandon its proposed agenda "to focus and resolve one matter only today". He declared "the region urgently needs to tidy up governance matters around this regional rail update project".

For a condemned man fronting up to hear his fate, it was a huge gamble that paid off. By the time the mayors had finished agreeing with the plans to nobble the ARC, there was no time for the main item on the agenda - the plan to knee-cap John Robertson.

In his speech Robertson was blunt: "We must have clear ownership of this business plan or the implementation of it will expose ratepayers to substantial risk. Clear lines of accountability are critical for any project, and this project does not have it.

"Our recommendation is that the region invites Auckland Regional Transport Network Ltd to become the responsible party - the owner of the business plan, the responsible party for its delivery, the accountable party for its performance, the project manager in the fullest sense of this role."

ARTNL is a local body trading enterprise owned by six of the region's seven local authorities - North Shore staying out because it lacks trains. It was set up to manage the fixed-rail infrastructure, including the rails and stations. The local authorities, like IA, had been working on expanding ARTNL's role anyway, and backed the IA plan.

For the ARC, which wants to expand its present regulatory and service selection role to include owning the rolling stock, the ARTNL plan has been a kick to the pride and the guts.

Worse, the territorial councils, in hardening up their proposals, want to poach ARC's rail experts for the ARTNL team. A sensible transfer of expertise for sure, but not one that has amused the embattled ARC.

From Wellington come more bad signals for the ARC. There seems to be a growing consensus in government circles - among officials and politicians - that ARTNL should become rail project leader.

Everyone involved is putting their views to Sir Ron Carter and Bill Grieve, who are reviewing the rail project at the request of the local authorities. They are to report by the first week of October.

If ARTNL assumes control there could be many changes. Critics of the ARC business plan have questioned, for example, the need for the proposed 10- to 15-minute peak-hour service plans. They question the need for the region to own the rolling stock rather than the operator and they question the quantity and specifications of the proposed new trains.

Whatever Sir Ron comes up with, it needs to be sooner rather than later. And the regional politicians should bury their hatchets fast if they want a decent train service out of Britomart when it opens next July.

As a report to the ARC's passenger transport committee pointed out this month, if a deal for interim rolling stock is not completed with Australian suppliers by "mid-October at the very latest" there will not be time to get them here and refurbish them before opening day.

And, as things stand, just nine months out from that date, we have no agreed organisation to either own the trains or pay for them.

As for the regional bank's fancy footwork to avoid the order to pay up for the rolling stock, I'm told the reprieve was strictly temporary. The subject is back at the top of the electoral college agenda.

One wonders what trick Mr Robertson has lurking up his sleeve for his next meeting.

Further reading
Feature: Getting Auckland moving

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