MIL OSI – Source: Green Party –
Headline: Surge in patronage shows need for City Rail Link
“The Government has set arbitrary and unachievable targets as its excuse to delay work on the City Rail Link,” Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said.
A 13.1 percent surge in Auckland rail patronage in the year to May shows the Government needs to start on the Auckland City Rail Link immediately, the Green Party said today.
“The Government has set arbitrary and unachievable targets as its excuse to delay work on the City Rail Link,” Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said.
An independent report by Price Waterhouse Coopers, commissioned by the Auckland mayoral office, said patronage and downtown employment targets for the $2.8 billion project to get approval were “unrealistic” and “unachievable” in the given timeframe.
“PwC noted that the highest rates of patronage growth ‘are likely to be achieved after full introduction of electric trains in 2016’, so waiting until 2020 to start the project will be too late,” said Ms Genter.
“The Onehunga line, which is already running electric trains, has seen growth of 37 percent.”
The Government’s own advisory report, City Centre Future Access Study, clearly spells out that delaying CRL carries economic costs including displacement of employment, restriction of growth and foregoing the benefits of agglomeration.
Auckland Mayor Len Brown says a 2016 start is vital to Auckland’s economic development and to prevent crippling peak-hour road congestion.
The Green Party wants to kick start construction of the CRL next year.
“The City Rail Link is the next essential step in creating a smarter, greener transport network for all Aucklanders,” said Ms Genter.
“It is vital to unblock the bottleneck at Britomart and thus get the full benefits of electrification.
“It will double capacity on the network, allowing trains to run every five minutes at peak times. It will reduce travel times from West Auckland to the CBD by up to 28 minutes.
“After CRL we can extend lines to the airport and the North Shore. The creation of a congestion-free network will de-clog roads, speed-up journeys and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Compared to National’s multi-billion dollar and unnecessary motorways, investing in Auckland rail is cheap and cost-effective,” Ms Genter said.
Note: May 2014 is now in record as the single month with the high rail patronage since Auckland hosted the rugby World Cup.
Link to patronage stats:
https://at.govt.nz/media/561122/Stats-report-May-2014.pdf
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