Ups and downs of commuter rail plan
Recent media attention has reignited the Auckland-Hamilton passenger rail debate.
However, there appears to be some confusion about what is currently up for discussion, in particular, the options outlined in a recent report to Waikato Regional Council.
This report outlined 3 options – 1) do nothing, 2) a detailed rail feasibility study, or 3) develop a strategic business case on interregional connections.
Since 2010, much has changed in the Franklin/Northern Waikato area.
There has been considerable growth in Pukekohe, Pokeno, and Te Kauwhata, as well as further afield.
In addition, the significant increase in State Highway One traffic between Auckland and Hamilton – in both directions - is leading inexorably to traffic congestion.
This is not confined to the Auckland region – the tail of the queue is extending further south.
Equally, more traffic is travelling south, resulting in bottlenecks around Huntly.
While the opening of the Waikato Expressway (Huntly section), due in 2020, may alleviate some of this congestion, by the time it does open, there will be considerably more interregional traffic.
It is now 2017, and the problems requiring solutions are multiple. Catering for this level of inter-regional growth is going to require critical thinking and forward planning, including all the partners involved – central government, local government, New Zealand Transport Agency.
Part of this is the proposal, supported by Waikato Regional Council, for developing a ‘‘strategic business case to identify the problems [and] opportunities for inter-regional connections between Auckland [and] Hamilton and associated investment benefits’’.
Auckland Council has expressed concerns about revisiting the ‘‘Hamilton to Auckland rail service’’ idea, suggesting that such a service is a ‘‘low priority for Auckland Council at this point in time’’ (minutes of Planning Committee 6 June 2017).
However, Auckland Council did agree to support preparation of a ‘‘high-level review’’ (to use their terminology).
At the prompting of some rail supporters, Auckland councillors added support ‘‘in principle [for] the provision of a passenger rail service from Hamilton to Auckland’’, with one dissenting voice.
Unless all parties get their collective thinking together on this matter, what are currently perceived as Auckland-only problems will become even bigger and more difficult to confront.
This is not just about delivering commuters from Hamilton into Auckland’s CBD.
Heads in the sand, and a lack of strategic planning will very soon be seen as a failure by current decision-makers to act, inevitably necessitating ever more costly remedies.
Jennie Hayman is a Waikato general constituency councillor. The views expressed are her own.
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