Rugby goal gives a jolt to rail electrification

Local politicians say an electrified western line is needed to deliver thousands of fans to Eden Park in 2011. Picture / Herald On Sunday

Auckland transport politicians want Government funds to electrify the western railway line - rather than the entire regional network in one hit - in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

A call for a cut-down scheme, in response to the Government's reluctance to support a full-blown $500 million electrification project in the short term, has been agreed by the Auckland Regional Council's transport policy committee.

The committee resolved that an electrified western line was needed not just to deliver thousands of rugby fans to Eden Park in 2011, but to leave a legacy for Aucklanders and provide a catalyst for a region-wide system upgrade in the longer term.

Its new approach follows advice from the Rugby Union to the regional council that the world cup will generate 400,000 trips to Eden Park, mainly by visitors to Auckland.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen has previously listed priorities for Auckland's rail network for the next three years as:

* Completing the $200 million duplication of the western line.

* Upgrading the Newmarket junction.

* Building a 1.8km spur to central Manukau.

Electrifying the network and starting to build an underground rail loop from Britomart to Mt Eden via Albert St were not priorities for Government funding, he and former Transport Minister David Parker said in a letter to the regional council in December.

But the committee's resolution on Tuesday noted advice from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, which faces a $700 million public transport funding gap over 10 years, that electrification was essential for increasing rail's long-term carrying capacity.

Committee chairman Joel Cayford said he feared the Government was "somewhat out of step" with a surge in demand by Aucklanders in recent months for public transport, as shown by rising patronage numbers and the outcry over Ministry of Transport road-pricing options.

A transport authority draft network plan warns that unless the funding gap is closed there can be little spending on more bus services over the next five years, and that the region will fall well short of a goal of doubling public transport patronage by 2016.