Compo cost for Rugby World Cup shambles put at $100k

Auckland Mayor Len Brown said anyone who had registered, and whose claim had been verified, after missing some or all of the ceremony and game would be offered a ticket to the semifinal on Oct 15. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Auckland ratepayers will foot one third of the estimated $100,000 bill to buy tickets for fans who missed the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony and game.

People who missed both the ceremony and the game due to transport chaos in Auckland will be offered a semifinal ticket, Auckland Mayor Len Brown said yesterday.

Nearly 1000 people were late for the opening ceremony and some opted to give up trying to get there after Auckland trains ground to a halt on the tracks, trapping people for about two hours.

Mr Brown said anyone who had registered, and whose claim had been verified, after missing some or all of the ceremony and game would be offered a ticket to the semifinal on October 15.

It is understood up to 70 people were offered the semifinal tickets - prices for which ranged between $296 to $797 on the World Cup website.

Those who missed only the ceremony but made it to the game would be offered a ticket to the bronze final on October 21. Prices for that match were priced between $49 to $358.

Tickets to the opening match ranged from $61 to $460.

"We know we can't make up for the experience that was missed but hope this gesture of goodwill is received in the spirit in which it is made," Mr Brown said.

A spokesman for the mayor said if everyone who was offered tickets accepted them, the cost was likely to be about $100,000.

The bill was most likely to be spilt evenly among the responsible parties - Auckland Council, Government and Veolia.

All those affected will receive a letter in the next few days asking them to accept the offer. If they do, they will get tickets next week.

Meanwhile, an independent inquiry into transport has found the biggest problem on opening night was the inability to accurately estimate the numbers who would attend the waterfront party.

Meredith Connell partner Chris Moore, who released his findings last night, said regardless of how capable the programming, timetabling and trial runs may have been in the build-up to opening night, "none of this planning could survive the actual number of 200,000 people who are believed to have attended".

He said event organisers had predicted up to 50,000 might attend and planed on a "worst case scenario of 100,000".

Mr Moore warned that while the circumstances of opening night were unlikely to be repeated, "the events of that day serve as a warning for the planning of transport for the Rugby World Cup semifinals and finals".

"Limiting the numbers of people attending the celebrations in downtown Auckland could significantly ameliorate the issue."

"While the easy answer to many of these issues is simply to say that more buses, trains and ferries should have been allocated, the practical reality is quite different.

"While it's not an attractive option, limiting numbers, possibly by temporary security screens to the downtown party and entry by pre-purchased free tickets, would provide some control over numbers ..."

He also suggested better communication between the management of the waterfront celebrations and publicity of the event, limiting the number of leisure craft in the harbour so ferries had a better run and restricting the number of passengers who were boarding trains.

Mr Moore said one of the biggest problems was with the rail network due to its "finite capacity and fixed nature" which made it "inherently difficult to rectify problems once they developed".

No one from Auckland Transport was available to comment last night.