How would Wellington’s light rail work?
A light-rail system is expected to be announced for Wellington within months. What is it all about? Damian George reports What is light rail?
Light rail is an urban train system which operates mainly on its own right-of-ways, allowing it to make fast, reliable public transport trips.
The term was coined in the United States in 1972 to describe new streetcar developments that were happening in the US and Europe. The term ‘‘light’’ refers to smaller passenger numbers but faster trips. They are typically fully electric.
Light-rail systems are in place in hundreds of cities, from North and South America, to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Where would Wellington’s light rail go?
This is still to be determined but a general route is being discussed.
Lobby group Fair and Intelligent Transport Wellington (Fit Wellington) has designed a proposed route, which has been discussed with the city’s transport planners. While this could differ from the final design, it works on the same principle of beginning at Wellington Railway Station and running along the waterfront quays, then through the central city, Mt Cook, Newtown, Mt Albert, and Kilbirnie to Wellington Airport.
Fit Wellington’s design would take light rail along the quays and up Taranaki St, then into a tunnel through Mt Cook to Myrtle Crescent and Adelaide Rd.
It would then run along Riddiford St, Mansfield St, and Newtown Park, past Wellington Zoo into another tunnel through Mt Albert to Kilbirnie, and along State Highway 1 to Miramar and the airport.
In Kilbirnie, it would run on Coutts St and split into two oneway tracks at Ross St and Yule St.
It would include 11 stops – at Frank Kitts Park, Te Aro Park, Pukeahu National War Memorial, King St, Wellington Regional Hospital, Newtown Ave, Wellington Zoo, Kilbirnie, ASB Sports Centre, Miramar, and the airport.
How would it work?
The route designed by Fit Wellington would be 9.7 kilometres, and would be almost all two-way, apart from a one-lane section through the Mt Albert tunnel.
Trains could operate in both directions at all times, with schedules ensuring trains did not clash at the one-way section.
They would carry up to 470 people, and ideally operate between 6am and midnight every day, with services every five minutes between 7am and 9am, and 3pm and 6pm.
There would be services every 10 minutes between 9am and 3pm, and 6pm and 7pm.
The light-rail system would have priority at all intersections, meaning it would never be at the mercy of other traffic.
At peak times, there would be 16 trains running every hour, with the journey from the railway station to the airport taking potentially as little as 20 minutes.
Compromises
Fit Wellington member Kerry Wood, an engineer with a masters in transport studies from Lincoln University in Christchurch, said compromises would need to be made to accommodate light rail.
The two-way track would be 6.6 metres wide, and could be raised from the ground on some sections.
There were a range of options to make space for the system, including widening roads, removing lanes or making them narrower, making some lanes oneway, or removing parking.
In Fit Wellington’s design, at least one traffic lane would be lost on the waterfront quays and possibly on Taranaki St, while southbound vehicles on Riddiford St, in Newtown, would be moved to the adjacent Daniel St. Adelaide Rd could be widened so light rail could be added to the existing design.
The system could also be raised 1.5m from the ground along the waterfront to allow for sea level rise. But Wood said examples of overseas light-rail systems showed that removing traffic lanes had not made much difference to traffic flows. ‘‘It’s all about trade-offs and compromises.’’
What would it cost and when would it open?
Fit Wellington estimates the system would cost between $1 billion and $1.5b but that is dependent on many things.
John Rankin, who worked on cost saving for North America’s first light-rail system which opened in Edmonton, Canada, in 1978, said building elevated tracks was what often led to cost blowouts.
He said constructing the system should take about four years but it could be several years before construction began.
He admitted the 20-minute journey time from the railway station to the airport was a bestcase scenario.
‘‘If it’s designed well and operated well, we believe
20 minutes is achievable, and that should be the aspiration.’’
Disruption and bus routes
By keeping the network away from the Golden Mile (parts of Lambton Quay, Willis St, Manners St, and Courtenay Place), the light-rail system should not greatly affect bus routes, Fit Wellington said. Construction could be done with little disruption if it was managed well, the group said.