The transport corridor once earmarked for Auckland's light rail line has been deemed a "nationally significant problem" by the Government's infrastructure commission, nearly two years after the coalition scrapped the project.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop told 1News a public transport corridor from the CBD to Māngere and the airport was "a problem worth solving".
The Infrastructure Commission endorsed a proposal for "mass rapid transit" in the corridor at stage one of its project prioritisation list, included in its 30-year infrastructure plan released last week.
That means it's recognised as a problem that needs work done on it.
Transport advocate Connor Sharp compiled a decade's worth of business case work to submit to the commission's process — an attempt to revive the idea of a cheaper form of surface light rail through the Auckland isthmus.
Commission says the only game in town is maintaining and operating existing frameworks. (Source: TVNZ)
"There's a problem there, and nobody's working on this — nobody's directly working on a solution to this, and that is an issue in itself," he said after the report's release.
"They endorsed this from an individual. They said there's a nationally significant problem here, but there's no work being done on a solution."
Sharp's proposal called for surface light rail from the CBD to Mt Roskill along Dominion Rd as a first stage, followed by a second stage to Māngere - and potentially to the airport.
A stage one endorsement from the Infrastructure Commission is the first rung of a three-stage ladder — it means officials recognise an infrastructure problem exists and is worth solving, but stops well short of endorsing any particular solution to that problem.
The proposal came from a single, unaffiliated individual — not from Auckland Council, Auckland Transport or any government agency, a commission spokesperson said.
Investment general manager Andy Hagan said the proposal had made "a strong case" that there was a problem that needed fixing in the corridor.
But further analysis was needed to determine the most cost-effective solution, he said.
The commission's assessment found problems in the existing city centre to Māngere corridor. Bus lines into the city centre, including via Symonds St and Karangahape Rd, were forecasted to exceed 150% of capacity by 2048 without intervention.
But the commission said it had not seen sufficient evidence that any solution explored to date could deliver value for money, noting publicly released cost estimates had escalated from $847 million in 2016 to $12.6 billion by 2023, with project scope changes.
Sharp, a long-time advocate for surface light rail in particular, asserted trains on the corridor "have to happen, because we can't solve these [capacity] problems with buses".
The commission's own assessment left open the question of what form any future solution might take, noting that lower-cost options such as busways and bus rapid transit appeared to have been excluded too early in more recent planning work.
New light rail docs reveal veiled project shift
The re-emergence of the former light rail corridor from a government-endorsed plan came as newly released documents showed a quiet, unpublicised change in priorities for the previous Labour government's beleaguered light rail agency.
A barrage of documents proactively released days before Christmas last year indicated transport officials had switched to planning for an underground and elevated metro system - akin to the London Underground - before the project was cancelled.
Officials said as much in briefings, comparing their planned "metro rapid transit" system to ones in Sydney and Copenhagen — saying it could eventually run without drivers.
That plan differed sharply from what the public was promised during feedback stages.
The city’s promised light rail between the airport and the CBD is set to be partially tunnelled, the Government announced as part of its 30-year transport infrastructure plan. (Source: 1News)
At the time of public consultation, Aucklanders were told the project would proceed with a so-called "tunnelled light rail" option, with underground and surface sections, but with trams running at street-level through the middle of town centres such as Māngere.
In earlier incarnations, the project would have also run at street level through suburbs such as Mt Eden and Mt Roskill, with varying degrees of separation from road traffic.
At its simplest, surface light rail means trams running on or near street level, such as the trains running down George St in Sydney's CBD. It is designed to service a whole corridor, with more frequent stops, integrating with surrounding suburbs.
A metro system, by contrast, would be fully "grade-separated" by comparison, meaning it runs entirely in tunnels or on elevated tracks, connecting major points at a higher speed.
It's unclear how a complete shift to a metro-style project would have affected the train line's budget. But Sharp said the change would've added more costs to what was already widely seen as a politically contentious project.
"Even though it was always talked about as light rail, they were looking at metro - fully grade separated, elevated or tunnelled," he said.
The final internal budget estimates for the project were between $16 billion and $18 billion, according to proactively released documents from the Ministry of Transport.
Bishop focused on project affordability
Bishop said the city centre to Mangere corridor was not currently a priority in the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport, but pointed to Auckland's new 30-year transport plan as the right place to consider existing problems.
"The city centre to Māngere mass rapid transit corridor is a nationally significant infrastructure problem, and represents an opportunity for Auckland to reduce congestion, lift productivity, drive more development, and grow," he said.
"This is supported by the Infrastructure Commission endorsing the corridor at stage one of its infrastructure priorities programme."
He added: "In this case, the commission was uncertain that the city centre to Māngere proposal, as written, would deliver value for money.
"We have been here before with Labour's failed $30 billion Auckland light rail monstrosity - that was simply not affordable and hence why the Government cancelled it."
Bishop did not directly answer whether he saw a meaningful difference between Labour's metro-style project and the more modest surface light rail option some had put forward — or whether the government would support any future work on the corridor.
Sharp said the project had become so politicised at the central government level that its best chance now lay with Auckland's local politicians and council. Mayor Wayne Brown has previously spoken positively of a pared-back and more affordable light rail option.
Commission chief executive Geoff Cooper spoke to Q+A's Jack Tame following the release of the national infrastructure plan. (Source: Q and A)
"You're not going to get Labour trying to do a $10 billion or $20 billion project, and National's obviously not going to pick it up," Sharp said.
"The politicisation of this is really the core reason why nothing's happening anymore. You really need this work to be led by Auckland."
Businesses along Dominion Rd, one of Auckland's busiest bus corridors and a key part of the scrapped light rail proposed route, have previously expressed frustration to 1News at the lack of progress on public transport for the street.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown says Auckland Light Rail Ltd has been told to ‘immediately cease work’. (Source: 1News)
The Infrastructure Commission's endorsement means the ex-light rail corridor now sits on a national priorities list — but with no agency currently assigned to progress it, and no government funding attached, its path forward remains unclear.
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