Brian Rudman: Train's here, champagne time for commuters

COMMENT

Today, nine months after the opening of the showcase Britomart train station, the Auckland Regional Council is breaking out the champagne to welcome the late, late arrival of the first of a fleet of 10 modernised trains.

It's a shame I have a prior engagement because I was looking forward to hearing chairwoman Gwen Bull apologise for these much-needed trains showing up a year later than need be.

The reason for the delay? Ideological dithering by her and other ARC politicians and officials back in 2002 over the finer points of "competitive tendering".

When you consider the huge growth in the number of passengers using commuter rail since Britomart opened last July, despite the clapped-out train service on offer, you can only despair at the opportunity missed.

Last month, passenger numbers were up 41 per cent over the previous March. In February, the growth was 29 per cent, and in January, 32 per cent.

Don't we all know someone who tried to join the post-Britomart dash to catch a train, but finally gave up in disgust?

It needn't have been like this. Four years ago, former rail operator Tranz Rail came up with a proposal to rebuild former British Rail first-class intercity Mk2 carriages and put them on the Auckland suburban service.

Tranz Rail had imported 61 of these "youthful" 25-year-old carriages, some of which were being renovated for Tranz Scenic's intercity services.

Two versions were on offer: an "S" for Scenic car with single doors at each end, or an "M" for metropolitan car, with two sets of wide doors mounted at the quarter points on each side.

Tranz Rail put its plans to the ARC in April 2000 and staff were asked to report back by September 2001.

These "push-pull" trains would have a reconditioned locomotive at one end and a drive unit built into the carriage at the other end.

Tranz Rail estimated the cost per four-car train, complete with locomotive, would be less than $5 million, for a run of nine trains. Advantages included speed of delivery, cheapness compared with new stock, the work would be done in New Zealand, and trains could be converted to electricity.

In April 2002, with the planned opening of Britomart just over a year away and little by way of improvements to the rail system in sight, Grant Kirby, the Government-appointed transport advocate charged with kickstarting Auckland's rapid rail system, addressed the full ARC on the need for haste.

He backed the "M" car proposal, arguing that there were no other off-the-shelf options available and that new trains would cost at least twice as much.

But crucially, "the M-car proposal is an affordable option capable of integration into a long-term strategy and deliverable within two years".

The prototype would have been available by the time Britomart opened, with the rest following at one or two a month.

Mrs Bull, transport chairman Catherine Harland and the rest gave Mr Kirby the bum's rush.

The councillors had two objections. First, they wanted brand new. Second, as I noted at the time, "the fast-track proposal would breach all the byzantine rules of competitive processing that the ARC officialdom is so wedded to".

I called on the politicians to take control for once.

In response, I got a stern dressing down, by letter and phonecall, from Mrs Bull. She wrote of the need "for an open, competitive tender to deliver a quality rail system at long last", and said there were legal as well as commercial reasons for rejecting the "M" car proposal.

Experts I spoke to at the time said this was nonsense. The ARC had every right to make the political decision to buy rebuilt British carriages as an interim, fast-track solution.

Luckily, it's hard to keep a good idea down and the "M" car refused to disappear. All that changed was its name. By the end of 2002 it was popping up in ARC reports as an "SA" car, which, I'm told, stands for Scenic Auckland. Otherwise it remains exactly the same beast.

Last July, with commuters baying for trains, the ARC ordered construction of 10 SA trains without a glimpse of competitive tendering. Late last year, the Government approved $61 million funding.

The ARC now says it can waive competitive tendering when buying "interim" trains. What a shame no one at the ARC stumbled across this piece of sleight-of-tongue a year or two earlier.