Auckland light rail: Massive transport project goes out to public after six years

Wednesday, 30 June 2021

Public Consultation on Auckland's Light Rail scheme will initially be to listen.

Nearly six years after being first floated and four years after being promised, Auckland’s proposed light rail scheme will emerge into daylight on Thursday for initial public consultation.

The scheme, promised by the 2017 Labour-led government, foundered a year ago due to opposition from New Zealand First.

Transport Minister Michael Wood got it back on track in March, and public views on possible routes and types of vehicles will start being gathered in a two-month stint, with Māngere the first to be heard.

No new details will be revealed initially other than confirmation that route options include both the Sandringham and Dominion Rd arterials, and will either follow the southwestern motorway or run through town centres such as Māngere and Favona.

* No decision on Auckland light rail, as Government opts for 'fresh start' on project

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

Artist’s impressions of how Light Rail might look routed through the Māngere Town Centre.

The consultation is the first public sign of progress since Auckland Transport first floated the idea in 2015.

No firm estimates of the cost have been suggested, but it is expected to top the $4.4 billion cost of Auckland’s City Rail Link.

An artist’s impression how a 'modern tram' light rail system would look in Auckland suburbs.

About 70 staff are working on the project in downtown Auckland.

The Auckland Light Rail (ALR) Group, set up by the Government and including Auckland Council, will weigh up options such as whether to start the downtown end near Queen St or further west in Wynyard Quarter.

How a future network might connect with new lines to the North Shore or the northwest, and whether it should swing by Auckland University, are also up for discussion.

Closer to the southern terminus at Auckland Airport, there are also choices to be made.

“There’s an opportunity to stay along the motorway which would be less disruptive, but have less benefit,” chief executive Tommy Parker said.

“The option of going into the Māngere town centre allows regeneration and master planning and may have more benefit.

An artist’s impression of 'modern metro' in which light rail would be run largely below suburban streets.

“We also need to have conversations with the airport and how to access it and the surrounding employment areas with greater catchments for workers.”

Auckland Light Rail Group chairman Leigh Auton said the project is not just a “transport solution”, but a foundation for new homes, shops and public spaces.

“It will open up new planned housing areas in Mt Roskill, Onehunga and Māngere.”

Community consultation will run through July and August, before a detailed business case is developed with defined routes and station locations.

ALR will report back to the Government and council agencies in September, with a Government decision likely by the end of the year.

The details of the proposed scheme will then go out for another round of public consultation in early 2022.

A light rail plan was first worked on by the council agency Auckland Transport, which pondered having the initial section running by 2017.

After the 2017 general election, the Labour-led government took over the scheme, and eventually ran the traditional plans of Waka Kotahi against a competitor option, pitched by the NZ Super Fund and a Canadian fund.

That process ran aground, coalition partner New Zealand First opposed further work, and it went on ice until after the 2020 election when New Zealand First failed to be elected and the scheme revived.

No decisions have been made on how to fund it, but $1.8 billion of “seed funding” is set aside in Auckland’s Regional Land Transport Plan.