KEY POINTS:
Auckland City Mayor John Banks wants the Government to dig into the Superannuation Fund for a $1 billion-plus rail tunnel from Britomart to Mt Eden via Albert St.
Mr Banks raised the idea yesterday after a mayoral tramp along more than 1km of rail corridor which Government agency Ontrack is enlarging and redeveloping for new stations between Boston Rd in Mt Eden and the southern end of the Newmarket junction for almost $100 million.
On the site of a $25 million, double-storey station the Auckland Regional Transport Authority is building at Newmarket, the former "roads, road, roads" mayor said public transport was the key to developing "a truly international city".
He was inspired by the effort put in by workers replacing tracks in time for special trains on Friday for the Big Day Out and for regular commuter services to resume on Monday after an unprecedented three-week shutdown.
"It is a wonderful example of all parties working together and gives more fuel to my commitment to push ahead with the railway tunnel project from Britomart back to Kingsland," said Mr Banks, a former National minister.
He will talk to Prime Minister John Key and Infrastructure Minister Bill English about that project, which is needed to realise the full potential of Britomart. Ontrack is preparing to award a $5 million contract to protect a potential 3.5km route.
He would ask Mr Key to consider using some of the Superannuation Fund for critical Auckland infrastructure, including rail electrification and the inner-city tunnel, at a cost of $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
Although the Government has inherited a commitment to rail electrification as a shared $1 billion project with Auckland Regional Council, the tunnel is not part of it.
Mr Banks said Britomart would become constrained as early as 2015 if left as a dead-end rail facility, while turning it into a through station would double its capacity.
"If we are going to get serious about our commitment to climate change and getting people out of their cars and into public transport, that work is critical."
Although Mr English said before the election National would direct 40 per cent of the Super Fund into New Zealand investments, government advisers urge caution.
A spokesman for the minister said he was unable to comment before receiving a proposal from Mr Banks.
Federated Farmers is challenging the worth of Auckland's proposed $1.89 billion pair of motorway tunnels beneath Waterview as part of the western ring route, saying water-storage on agricultural land would deliver better economic returns.
Although a report commissioned in 2004 by the Automobile Association said completing the ring route would deliver $4.60c in economic benefits for every dollar invested, federation chief executive Conor English - who is the minister's younger brother - says that does not justify tunnelling under relatively flat land.
Mr Banks said although farming was fundamental to the economy, so was Auckland's infrastructure. Any change to the Waterview project risked a 10-year setback to the ring route.
* Back on track
Friday: Special trains to Penrose Station for the Big Day Out, up to three an hour from Britomart and limited services from Papakura.
Monday: Tracks to reopen to scheduled services from Britomart to Otahuhu on the southern line and to Waitakere at the end of the western line.
New temporary platforms will operate from Monday at two stations on the western line.
Passengers will have to use temporary platforms until then at:
Avondale: On each side of duplicate tracks next to Trent St and Tait St on the eastern or opposite side of the Blockhouse Bay Rd bridge from the old station.
Boston Rd: Outside Mt Eden Prison, about 100m west of the old station.
For timetable information: www.maxx.co.nz
