Tenders for new trains launched

By Bernard Orsman

Auckland is one step closer to a new rail service, but it comes with a warning that it could be too little to meet demand when the Britomart railway station opens in July next year.

The Auckland Regional Council passenger transport committee yesterday agreed to launch an open tender to get new trains from 2005 or 2006, while upgrading some of the existing trains and finding other trains in the interim.

However, an Australian rail expert, Graham Holden, warned the committee that the interim solution might not meet the "significant" potential for growth in passenger numbers when Britomart opens.

He said there were many reasons for Aucklanders to use the new rail system, including increased service frequency, increased hours of service, more attractive stations, better passenger information systems, park and ride facilities - and the level of congestion on roads.

At present, Auckland has just 19 diesel trains carrying commuter passengers. Last year, around 2.25 million trips were made by urban commuters in Auckland - 5 per cent of all trips made by public transport in the Auckland region.

Mr Holden said that when Perth opened a new rail system, the number of journeys jumped from 6 million to 30 million a year. Brisbane and Adelaide, cities of a similar size to Auckland, had annual rail journeys of 40 million and 12.5 million, respectively.

ARC officials have estimated growth of 20 per cent a year once Britomart opens.

"Auckland could be put under pressure if demand generated by Britomart is greater than forecast," Mr Holden said.

Barry Mein, the ARC transport manager with responsibility for making sure there are enough trains, said the 20 per cent growth figure was a "best guess".

The ARC could reconfigure train services to cope with marginal growth above 20 per cent, "but if it was really significant it would take time to get more rolling stock".

The ARC was considering refurbishing 10 of the 19 existing fleet of trains at a cost of $8 million, looking to lease two long-distance S trains from Tranz Rail and exploring other interim options, Mr Mein said.

Mr Holden, a consultant with the rail division of the international engineering firm Halcrow, was expanding on a technical report on the merits between a proposal from the ARC for new diesel multiple units (DMUs) and a proposal from the Government's transport advocate, Grant Kirby, and Tranz Rail to refurbish some push-pull M trains.

The earliest the first M trains could be operational in Auckland was January 2005 with an open tender, or June 2005 for the DMUs, Mr Holden said.

The capital cost of the M trains was about $50 million, compared with about $98 million for the DMUs. Higher operating and maintenance costs for the M trains closed the cost gap in the longer run. There would also be additional costs raising platforms to provide level boarding for the M trains, including structural changes to the floor height at Britomart.

The committee rejected the Kirby proposal to provide M trains without going to tender.

"For the ARC to go to a sole supplier for a large purchase, the proposal would have to be sufficiently different from potential alternatives," said committee chairwoman Catherine Harland.

Feature: Getting Auckland moving

Live traffic reports

Rideline Auckland public transport information