KEY POINTS:
Two senior ministers were busy patting themselves on the back yesterday as they bowed to the inevitable and agreed to resurrect the Onehunga branch railway line. Transport Minister Annette King lauded the decision as "another important step in extending the Auckland rail footprint".
But while she and Finance Minister Michael Cullen were proudly proclaiming the Government's commitment "to creating a world class transport network in the city", long-suffering passengers on the rapidly collapsing western rail service were being forced to use emergency buses and taxi vans.
On-going signal failures due to "an undiagnosed fault" had forced rail operator Veolia to "commence a programme of planned cancellations in order to minimise delays and ensure service provisions for customers". These "planned cancellations" - don't you love the expression - will be in place until "further notice".
Planned cancellations are better than the other sort, I guess, but the parlous state of the western line should be signal enough to the Government that reviving the Onehunga branch line - great decision that it is - is like offering us cake to eat while stranded at the station watching Auckland's rail system short-circuit itself to a standstill. What's the use of $10 million worth of shiny new rail track from Penrose to Onehunga, if passengers are doomed to have to travel from Britomart by bus to take advantage of it.
An internal advisory to train users at Waitakere City Council summed up the frustrations of passengers well. After outlining Veolia's "planned cancellations" the author added: "If you're still planning to catch the train (or bus or taxi-van rail replacement), I recommend you bring a good Russian novel such as War and Peace. All of these disruptions have made me want to run screaming from the building - but my train has been cancelled so I suppose I have to stay."
The first priority for Auckland commuter rail is a 21st-century signalling system to replace one that is about as reliable as a set of ancient Christmas tree lights. But before a decision can be made on that, Dr Cullen has to hold his nose, clench his teeth, defy his Treasury boffins and give the green light to the electrification of the network.
The signalling meltdown on the western line makes this decision ever more crucial. Even a thumbs down would be better than the present state of limbo. Until Dr Cullen decides, Government rail agency Ontrack cannot decide what sort of signalling system upgrade is needed. For starters, signalling for an electric network needs heavier shielding from straying electrical surges.
So not only is the Government's indecision over electrification holding up the ordering of urgently needed new rolling stock, it is now also putting off the replacement of the signalling system. And without a new signalling system, all the good work going on with double tracking and station building and rolling stock restoration will be for naught.
After decades of neglect, the boffins knew the Auckland network was in a woeful state. The buried signal cables have proved to be the weakest link. As contractors move along the western line, renewing bridges and laying track, it has only taken a heavy truckload passing overhead to break the brittle insulation of the buried wire and cause a shorting of the whole system. Some ancient cables - their locations unmapped - have been nicked by contractors' equipment, leaving them vulnerable to the next rain shower.
Fall-back systems are being tried, existing cabling brought to the surface and/or draped temporarily overhead. But this is make-do. Like the rolling stock, we deserve better. Certainly, a world-class transport network needs better.
But let's not forget the success of the Onehunga branch line lobby, aided and abetted and often led by Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee. This was a victory for the democratic process, where the common sense of the ordinary bloke wore down the intransigent opposition of the bureaucrats, in Auckland and Wellington. It was also a victory for political horse-trading with Mr Lee withdrawing his opposition to the moving of the historic Newmarket rail station in turn for the Onehunga line being restored by 2007.
The old station now seems destined to be the highlight of a new Museum stop at Parnell. As deals go, it risks giving politics a good name.
