World Cup 2011: Trains will be ready to take the strain

Kingsland train station in Auckland. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Rugby World Cup organisers are cautiously optimistic Auckland's upgraded rail network will be up to the heavy lifting demanded of it.

Although some visitors, spoilt by superior public transport at home, may be disappointed not to be able to catch trains from the airport, the Kingsland railway station, within a two or three-minute walk of Eden Park, is ready for the hordes of fans on match nights.

Tournament chief Martin Snedden is thrilled it took him just 20 minutes to get from the stadium's ASB Stand to Queen St by train after the All Blacks-South Africa Tri-Nations match in July. He acknowledges that only 25,000 fans were there that night, compared with the 60,000 who will pack into Eden Park for World Cup matches, but he calls it a promising start.

"The trains worked - that was a big step forward - the buses worked. I heard a lot about people driving to park-and-ride stations, particularly on the North Shore and Manukau as well."

The Tri-Nations match was the first test of a $6 million upgrade of the Kingsland station, which has been expanded to allow 15,000 spectators to arrive on six-car trains and then be packed off back to Britomart after matches.

Rail is the backbone of a plan which needs 75 per cent of those expected at matches to travel to and from Eden Park by means other than cars. Buses will carry about 7000 spectators and chartered coaches another 15,000. Tournament organisers also hope many will get into the spirit of a 4.3km "walk up" to the stadium along a themed route from the Queens Wharf fan zone.