Editorial: Transport scheme must move rapidly

Aucklanders will be weaned from their cars only when the region has public transport that is convenient, efficient, comfortable and safe. The $1.08 billion vision finally settled on by councillors is a compelling step in that direction. A sensible evaluation of the present infrastructure and rational development strategies has produced a blueprint with striking similarities to Melbourne's splendid public transport system.

The mixture sees light rail similar to trams plying the city centre and a line to the west, along which housing development is envisaged, heavy trains on the main trunk route south and the busway on the North Shore. The priority now must be for the system to be up and running as soon as possible, and for it to proceed in its entirety.

Dilution of the blueprint will succeed only in making the system less appealing to the travelling public. Take, for example, any attempt to reduce the $400 million price tag for new trains. Cheaper trains may, indeed, be available but they would also in all likelihood be less comfortable - and less liable to entice people from their cars.

Likewise with the new Britomart centre, the hub for this new transport wheel. To reduce costs it has been suggested that the concourse from the railway station - the former Chief Post Office - to the ferry terminal could be abandoned. Money would, indeed, be saved but passengers would have to walk across Quay St and Queen Elizabeth Square, sometimes in wet and miserable conditions. Convenience, a key feature of public transport's appeal, would have been sacrificed. Britomart's role as an integrated transport terminal is pivotal. It must not be short-changed in any way.

Auckland has been prone to short-sighted decision-making. Think back to the harbour bridge. The cost of the original concept of a five-lane bridge with a rail crossing and a pedestrian lane was considered prohibitive. The scaled-back version of four lanes operated at close to capacity from the day it was opened in 1959. Within a decade it had to be doubled in size at a cost which served to highlight the folly of thinking small.

Another embarrassment would be on the cards if shortcuts were taken at the Britomart centre. And the whole transport system will suffer if the public does not consider the hub up to scratch. Nothing but the height of convenience must be offered public transport users when they arrive downtown.

The blueprint hinges on the Government's gaining control of the rail corridors from Tranz Rail. This has already been a time-consuming and expensive process. Auckland's local bodies spent millions of dollars on consultants before agreeing to pay Tranz Rail $112 million for access to the network. That was money effectively wasted when the Government intervened three months ago, saying it could negotiate a better deal.

The Government is clearly determined that public transport - not more roads - will be the solution to Auckland's traffic congestion. That is logical long-term thinking, even if more motorways offer a short-term palliative. But it is imperative the Government pursues its policy vigorously.

A deal with Tranz Rail is expected to be signed next month. It cannot come soon enough. New or refurbished trains must be ordered for when Tranz Rail's contract expires in June 2003. Delivery will take two years. Again, the new system would be short-changed if that deadline was not met and Tranz Rail's offer to continue to run its trains had to be accepted. Only half of the Tranz Rail fleet will be fit for use in two years and the company will not pay for upgrades. Potential customers will be turned off by rundown trains, even if other pieces of the public transport jigsaw are in place.

Sectional interests will, of course, quibble about the blueprint. Some will argue that buses, not light rail, should run up Queen St to the university, the hospital and on to Newmarket. But there is a strong element of pragmatism in the strategy. The acid is now on local bodies to ratify the plan quickly and, most importantly, for the Government to strike a deal with Tranz Rail.

Then, finally, Auckland's public transport system will be on the right track.

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