‘Beware’ of light rail shift

An engineering expert has warned of the dangers of earmarking a bus route through Wellington’s central city for conversion to light rail, saying the transition may not be as easy it seems.

Retired engineer and Fair Intelligent Transport Wellington member Kerry Wood raised the concerns at a Greater Wellington Regional Council hearing on the consultation document to its 2017-18 annual plan yesterday.

Wood was referring to suggestions from the Let’s Get Wellington Moving working group that a route earmarked for bus rapid transit could be later converted to light rail.

The working group is devising ‘‘scenarios’’ to solve congestion between the airport and Ngauranga Gorge. They are expected to be released for public consultation in October or November.

Wood said preserving the proposed bus route, from Wellington Railway Station to Wellington Hospital in Newtown, could create some problems.

‘‘If you choose a bus route for conversion, you might get into trouble.

‘‘Light rail needs more gentle curves, more formal stops, and you need to think about where the platforms are going to go.’’

Moving a popular bus route elsewhere when light rail was introduced was also not easy, and some other cities around the world had regretted it, Wood explained.

Light rail was possible in the proposed route – from Wellington Railway Station to Wellington Hospital in Newtown – but vehicle parking would need to be removed in some areas, such as parts of Riddiford St and Wallace St.

That would provide both technical and political challenges, he said.