Funding hitch delays $30m train improvements

Train improvements, including more frequent and reliable services for the Hutt Valley, have been put on hold because the regional council has not yet found $30 million to pay for them.

The planned improvements, including adding an extra track to the train line between Trentham and Upper Hutt, were scheduled to begin in the next financial year.

Double-tracking the line would enable more frequent and more reliable train services.

Greater Wellington Regional Council also wants to install a third platform, or passing loop, at Porirua Station, and a ‘‘turnback’’ point at Plimmerton Station, allowing trains to continue in the opposite direction without using a turnaround point.

The changes are key aspects of the council’s ‘‘Rail Scenario 1’’ plan to ease peak-hour congestion by increasing train services during busy times.

But the council is now proposing to delay the work while it tries to convince the Government to contribute some taxpayer funding.

‘‘The funding required for these projects is approximately $30 million and that funding has not yet been secured but we are in discussion with Government agencies and KiwiRail about funding possibilities,’’ a council spokesman said.

"In the interim, we are looking to see what capacity improvements could be achieved without network changes." Greater Wellington Regional Council spokesman

‘‘In the interim, we are looking to see what capacity improvements could be achieved without network changes.’’

The council was working through a business case for the upgrades with ‘‘relevant parties’’, the spokesman said.

Part of the hold up is because the traction poles along the Hutt train line need to be ‘‘urgently’’ replaced before work can begin on other upgrades.

The rail infrastructure is owned by KiwiRail. But a spokesman for the state-owned company said the planned upgrades were regarded as service enhancements, rather than business-as-usual renewals and maintenance, which meant it would not be paying for them.

The council’s sustainable transport committee chairwoman, Barbara Donaldson, said there were a number of projects in the council’s Regional Rail Plan that would not happen without significant ratepayer or taxpayer funding.

‘‘The Wairarapa line is an example where we know that it is currently not delivering a service that our customers expect and will require all parties sitting down with urgency and working through the options, including funding.’’

The train upgrades are one of a number of public transport improvements the council had penciled into its 2017-18 Annual Plan, which it is now proposing to delay. These include delays in introducing an integrated fares and ticketing system, which will provide commuters with one smartcard they can use to pay for travel on all buses, trains and ferries across the Wellington region.

They council has also had to push back improvements for the bus network system, as well as scheduled heavy rail maintenance and carriage refurbishment.

The integrated ticketing delay attracted six negative submissions from members of the public on the council’s proposed 2017-18 Annual Plan. Council staff responded by saying that introducing such a system was a ‘‘huge and complex’’ job.

‘‘Ticketing and payments technology is developing so rapidly that all options need to be carefully investigated to ensure the development of a system that is fit for the future.’’