Rotokauri Transport Hub might spark rail network across Waikato

Thursday, 9 January 2020

Hamilton's new train service to the big smoke is set to transform transport infrastructure and might spark a new rail service across Waikato, infrastructure leaders say. 

By mid 2020, an empty field at Tasman Rd will become the $29 million Rotokauri Transport Hub, including a rail station, bus interchange and pedestrian bridge linking up to The Base.  

And questions revolve around the future of Frankton Rail Station, with Hamilton City Councillor Dave Macpherson saying a new central city station may be on the cards. 

The passenger rail service will mean commuters can leave Hamilton and arrive in Papakura in approximately 80 minutes.

**READ MORE:

* Sod turning gets Rotokauri transport hub under way

* What happens in Auckland will impact Hamilton commuter rail service

* Hamilton to Auckland passenger rail service hits a bogie**

The Frankton Station will be the first stop on the journey from Hamilton.

Council Strategic Growth Committee chair Dave Macpherson said the station is in need of a 'cosmetic upgrade', and about $30,000 has been set aside for a new paint job and signage, a carpark tidy up and disability access in the toilets. 

Although the Frankton station will definitely be used in the short term for the service to Auckland, that might not be the case in the long term, Macpherson said. 

The station was historically a hub of activity, situated in the industrial heart of the city and surrounded by housing for railway workers and their families.

In its heydey it was one of the busiest stations in the North Island, a major stop on the northern trunk line between Wellington and Auckland.

Macpherson said it's now become 'very hard to access'.

'It's only got one way in and one way out.

'These days when you are planning rail services you put them near main roads, near cycle access, you put them somewhere people can get to them easily.'

Once people start using trains more to commute to and from Hamilton they will need a station that's easily accessible to the CBD, Macpherson said. 

There are three options for a Hamilton central station and line: keep it in Frankton, join it up to the current underground station (used as a freight line), or put it on the west side of the intersection of Bryce Street and Tristram Street - just before the rail line goes underground.

Macpherson said there were difficulties with adding a passenger service to the underground rail line, and he was particularly interested in Bryce/Tristam St option.

Council was looking to do a study on a central station and had about 15 months to make a decision over it, he said.

He believes Waikato might eventually see passenger rail services from Huntly, Morrinsville, Matamata, Te Awamutu and Ōtorohanga connect up with Hamilton city.

The rail lines in these areas are already pretty good, Macpherson said. 

'We believe in the long term that more rail transport is a no-brainer. It's better for the environment, imagine having 100 people on a train rather than 90 people driving each of their own cars.

'Auckland used to be a city where everyone drove, but in the past 24 years, they've had a 3,500 per cent increase in rail patronage. It's standing room only on their trains.' 

Waikato University Professor of Planning Iain White agreed that public transport needed to be aligned with where people live or work.

'If you look at the way New Zealand has developed its cities, its quite low density, and its quite sprawly. We've got a lot of people living on big areas of land, that's a car based model.'

Building hubs, like the one at Rotokauri, was the first step in getting a rail network off the ground. 

'You've got to do this first: put the infrastructure in with the transport hubs, get a service up and running, and then more demand will spring from there.'

He thought more people might start to move near hubs like Rotokauri, because people liked to live in places with high connectivity.

Once people start using the train it could develop into a high-speed service where you commute between Auckland and Hamilton in little over an hour, White said.

White agreed that a network around Waikato could develop, rather than just a line.

'If we can do it here and do it well, we could pull the train to Cambridge and onto Tauranga.'

The idea that New Zealanders were simply a car-loving people that don't like trains did not wash with White. 

They often just don't have a 'better choice' than cars.

'Even if people haven't used public transport in the past or even recent past, it doesn't mean they won't in the future if you make the service frequent and reliable - because we know that's what works.'