Underground rail link feasible, says study

By STUART DYE transport reporter


An underground railway through the heart of Auckland's central business district is back on the drawing board.

The Auckland City Council says its 18-month investigation shows the link is a genuine engineering and economic possibility.

The idea has been discussed several times in the past four years.

But the council says new studies prove for the first time that a underground rail tunnel is feasible.

Greg McKeown, the council's transport chairman, said the political will and social climate were also in place.

The tunnel would extend the rail network westward from Britomart and connect with the Western Line near Mt Eden Station.

The project would be put in the same timeframe as the proposed third Waitemata Harbour crossing - 16 to 20 years.

It is estimated to cost $500 million.

The link would allow trains to pass through Britomart and create the possibility of an inner-city loop.

Three additional stations would be built - near Aotea Square, Karangahape Rd and the top of Symonds St - bringing most of the CBD within a short walk of a station.

The study has also recommended a preferred route for the connection; via Albert St, Mayoral Drive, Vincent St, Pitt St, under the central motorway junction to Exmouth St and the Western Line.

This would also leave open the possibility of connecting the CBD with the North Shore, via a rail tunnel under the Waitemata Harbour.

The project would transform Britomart from a terminus to a gateway to the region, and provide more direct connections for passengers travelling to and from both Waitakere and Manukau cities.

Mr McKeown said the plan could be part of the next Regional Land Transport Strategy.

"Turning Britomart into a through station would increase its capacity and optimise the city's investment in it, and the region's investment in rail-rapid transit."

The project would help to meet Auckland's rail patronage targets of 25 million passengers in 10 years.

The city council is recommending that it be considered by the Auckland Regional Council.

"Britomart has been built at a depth that allows for this underground option. An underground option provides for a high-speed, high-capacity rail link through the CBD which does not get caught up with the cars, buses, commercial traffic and pedestrians at street level," said Mr McKeown.

"It is a viable option for the future that needs to be on the table for discussion today."

To get the project under way, the ARC would need to give its backing and there would probably need to be approval and financial backing from the Government.

The situation is further confused as the region waits for the Government's announcement on Friday about the long-term solution to Auckland's transport woes. Sources say Prime Minister Helen Clark will travel to Auckland to make the announcement, as a measure of how important the issue is.

Catherine Harland, ARC passenger transport chairwoman, said tunnelling would cost an "enormous amount of money".

Other rail projects had a higher priority - such as double-tracking the Western Line - and the authority was still short of money for many of these, she said.