Transport plan close to accord

By SCOTT MacLEOD transport reporter

Four out of six Auckland councils have endorsed a new $112 million deal to lease the city's railway routes and use them for public transport.

In the past week, the Waitakere, Manukau and Papakura councils have voted to back the deal, in which they will pay Tranz Rail for control of all the city's major rail routes.

That leaves just Franklin District Council and Auckland Regional Council to decide.

Franklin will vote on Thursday evening - just hours before a political deadline on Friday.

The ARC, which has been negotiating the deal with Tranz Rail, will also vote on Thursday. But that is expected to be a formality.

ARC transport director Barry Mein said yesterday that the council and Tranz Rail negotiators had made good progress on the major points of the deal. The next step was to agree on some of the nitty-gritty.

"There are a few things that are still a little vague," he said. "There are still some funding issues and lease issues to deal with that will clearly need to go beyond Christmas."

If the new deal goes ahead, the councils will pay Tranz Rail $112 million to cede control of its Auckland rail corridors.

Tranz Rail will then pay back $2 million a year to use the lines for freight trains.

Under an old deal agreed to in June, the region would have paid $65 million up-front, plus $2.25 million to $4.25 million a year for 70 years.

The old deal would have given the city control of the western rail routes only, but under the new deal it will also control the main trunk line.

In the past week, some of the councils put conditions on going with the new deal. Waitakere and Manukau, for example, said their agreement was subject to funding.

Infrastructure Auckland has agreed to give $30 million, but Government honeypot Transfund is yet to decide whether it will give another $35 million - despite months of talks with the ARC.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a post-cabinet press conference yesterday that Transfund was yet to receive a final application for the money. The rail deal was relatively expensive, and buses should play a big role in Auckland's public transport future.

"Most Aucklanders don't live within cooey of a train station," she said.

The Auckland councils will decide by April next year whether buses, light trains or heavy trains will use the rail corridors.

But the Auckland City Council has already ruled out buses for the western rail routes. The council said on Thursday that it was illegal to drive buses in the corridors.

Transport Minister Mark Gosche, Auckland Issues Minister Judith Tizard and city mayors will meet in Waitakere this Friday to discuss the rail deal.

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