Light rail revolt: Transport enthusiasts launch last-ditch attempt to convince Government

Wednesday, 10 October 2018

An artist's impression of the Government's proposal to build light rail to Auckland Airport.

Opponents of plans to build light rail to Auckland Airport are making a final rallying cry for a faster heavy rail alternative.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford has repeatedly pushed back on the idea of building a more costly heavy train line through the middle of the Auckland isthmus.

Jon Reeves, of the Public Transport Users Association, councillor Mike Lee and Paul Miller, of NZ Transport 2050, helmed the meeting in support of heavy rail to the airport.

However, a group of 120 train enthusiasts gathered at Mt Eden War Memorial in Auckland on Tuesday night to force the issue back in the spotlight.

The crowd bemoaned Twyford's 'not-so-rapid rail' and people who were 'enthusiastic about apartments and light rail' on Dominion Rd.

A crowd of more than 100 people attended a meeting in Auckland to discuss an alternative heavy train option to the airport.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford has repeatedly dismissed calls for heavy rail to the airport.

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Audience members also decried the 'roguery' behind the Government's 'white elephant' light rail plans, and others saw a hidden agenda to 'turn Dominion Rd into an ecospace'.

The NZ Transport Agency says $1.8 billion of government funding will be used to complete a light rail network from Auckland Airport to the CBD and the city's northwest by 2028.

But the two transport groups behind the meeting argued heavy rail was the only option quick enough to entice Auckland Airport's rapidly growing passenger arrivals off shuttles, taxis and Ubers and onto public transport.

At Tuesday's meeting, the group criticised the low-speed of light rail, which they estimated to be less than 30kmh, compared to an estimated 120kmh for trains operating on a heavy rail network.

Paul Miller of NZ Transport 2050 likened the decision to choose light rail over heavy-rail to other short-sighted Auckland planning blunders, like the city's four-lane harbour bridge which had to upgraded just 10 years after it opened.

With over 40 million passengers set to arrive every year at Auckland Airport it would see New Zealand's main international airport experience similar passenger numbers to the present-day airports of Sydney, Miami, Toronto, Taipei and Munich.

Miller said none of those cities had light rail links to the airport and all had opted for heavy rail because light rail was too slow.

Councillor Mike Lee, who helped lead the meeting, said a heavy rail link separated from the road would be 'much more predictable than a tram'.

Twyford has repeatedly dismissed heavy rail to the airport, saying it would be more expensive while light rail could service more of the city and would open up more areas of Auckland to housing development.

'It's more efficient than bus rapid transit, and it's more versatile than heavier rail. You couldn't run a heavy rail line through the middle of the Auckland isthmus - which is a built up urban area,' Twyford said last week.

As residents filed out of the meeting several filled in pre-printed postcards addressed to Twyford asking him to change his mind.

AUT creative technologies student Quentin Quaadgras told Stuff while light rail was a positive and evoked images of the Gold Coast and Melbourne he believed it was an unrealistic option for transport to the airport.

'There's definitely room for light rail in Auckland, I just don't think it would be the most sensible option to the airport.'