Auckland Light Rail: New Minister committed but neutral on type of system

Wednesday, 4 November 2020

A 2016 video by Auckland Transport shows the proposed route of light rail line to the airport, later taken over by NZTA.

Mt Roskill MP Michael Wood launched the promise of Light Rail in Auckland in his 2016 by-election campaign, now as Minister of Transport he has to deliver.

Wood will not put a date on construction but said the project was essential if Auckland was not to “choke on its own growth”.

The freshly-appointed Minister of Transport said he has yet to be fully briefed on the status of Light Rail, a project which ran off the tracks under his predecessor Phil Twyford, and missed a promised build start.

“I’m not going to set an artificial timeframe, this is a multi-billion dollar decision, it'll shape the city for 50-100 years and we've got to get it right,” Wood told Stuff.

* Auckland's Light Rail: Project hit the buffers when NZTA took over, former AT chair says

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Artist impression of Auckland Light Rail trains en route to the Airport.

Light Rail became an embarrassment for the government, which took over the project from Auckland Transport, and opened it to a competing bid, before coalition partner New Zealand First vetoed progress.

Wood’s political history has several connections to it, he won the Mt Roskill seat in a by-election after it was vacated by light rail proponent Phil Goff, who became Auckland’s mayor.

Labour’s promise to deliver Light Rail through the isthmus to Mt Roskill, and on through Mangere to the airport, was made in Wood’s by-election campaign alongside then-Labour leader Andrew Little.

Michael Wood’s by-election victory in Mt Roskill in 2016, came with a promise from then-leader Andrew Little to build light rail.

He now awaits briefings from the Ministry of Transport which had taken over from NZTA, the weighing up of two competing proposals.

What those proposals look like has not been made public, but at least one is believed to be a high-speed, partially undergrounded metro system with fewer stops and a faster journey time to the airport.

Wood would not say whether he preferred that mode, to a more traditional street-level system.

Artist impression of Auckland's proposed light rail route on Dominion Road, Balmoral.

“There are trade-offs, a surface-level project creates greater convenience – all things being equal – for local, you’ll tend to have more stops,” he said.

“Below surface will tend to be more efficient, you’ll get people from A to B more quickly but there will be fewer stops, and it’s also likely to be a costlier option, but also likely to have greater capacity as well.”

Wood promised there would be consultation with Auckland, even though funding Light Rail would be a Government responsibility.

Auckland Council and its agency Auckland Transport have in the past expressed frustration over the level of consultation as the project progressed.

“Our goal, expressed in the manifesto last time and this time, is for an integrated public transport system in Auckland, that has to involve central and local government working together,” said Wood.

He was formerly a member of the council’s local board, before stepping up to become MP in 2016.

Wood underlined the need for Light Rail, with Auckland Council long arguing that bus services would eventually gridlock.

“It is a corridor of 400,000 people who currently don’t have access to reliable rapid transit, through that part of the city which has some of the fastest growing areas of residential and jobs in the country.”

“There has to be a rapid transit option there if we want to ensure Auckland moves and doesn't choke on its own growth,” Wood told Stuff.