Time short for Hamilton airport rail link

Campaigners for a commuter rail link between Hamilton and Auckland suggest it could also be used by Waikato residents who lost international air services from the region yesterday.

But they believe such a hope will be doomed unless the regional council, Environment Waikato, seeks a lease for KiwiRail's Silver Fern railcars, to be relinquished by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority on June 30.

The Hamilton City Council, which has allocated $250,000 for a station at Te Rapa to start a daily commuter service to take under two hours to reach Britomart, is disappointed Environment Waikato has not included funding in a draft three-year regional land transport programme.

The council's transport chairman Dave Macpherson said yesterday that about 70 people attended a meeting last week called at short notice to show support for such a service. They included representatives of a company which indicated such a service could be used by 10 of its staff each day.

Campaign for Better Transport spokesman Jon Reeves said that if the Waikato lost its chance to gain the Silver Fern railcars, it would be far more expensive and take at least two more years to import and rebuild carriages.

He said the loss of international air services through Hamilton Airport yesterday would make the railcars even more attractive, if they could stop at Papatoetoe Station, where a fast new bus link is available to Auckland Airport.

Rail consultant Murray King told Environment Waikato last year that a commuter service could succeed if it started modestly, and that two sets of railcars could be refurbished for early use for about $3.6 million, although capacity constraints at Britomart might make it necessary for passengers to change trains at Newmarket.

Environment Waikato transport chairman Norm Barker said the wider Waikato Regional Transport Committee would hear submissions supporting such a service at a meeting next month, before the draft transport programme was finalised by July 1.