Thursday, August 04, 2005



Thinking long-term

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority has unveiled its plans for Auckland's rail network: a full-on, electrified commuter rail system, with a link to the airport and an underground tunnel to create an inner-city loop. It's a bold plan, but it would finally give Auckland the rail system it so desperately needs, and get people out of their cars. The downside? It'll take twenty years to build. This really is thinking for the long-term - but its the previous lack of such long-term thinking which has allowed Auckland to become such a mess in the first place.

Posted by Idiot/Savant at 8/04/2005 11:16:00 AM

5 comments:

The irony is that what the ARTA are proposing isn't too different from the proposals of the 1970s...

 Posted by Lewis Holden : 8/04/2005 11:31:00 PM

My sense is that something like this has been proposed every 2-3 years since the 1970s. A colourful diagram representing "planned" underground or overground light rail routes through Auckland Central appears with some frequency on the front page of the NZH. Sweet FA ever gets done, and the price tag continues to soar.

 Posted by dc_red : 8/05/2005 09:53:00 AM

You newbies came down with the last shower! That 70s stuff from Robbie (the Mayor) about an underground length to the city was called the "Morningside Deviation" and was mooted in the 1930s!. The 1950 report from Sir William Halcrow & Partners recommended "a short underground railway line between Auckland Station and Arch Hill." - From p22 of Robbie's 1969 report into rapid transit.

He goes on to say that they were about to start on it when the City Engineer stopped it for the motorway report - and the rest is history.

 Posted by Bomber : 8/05/2005 02:26:00 PM

It was actually in the 1920s Tim, but your point stands.

 Posted by Lewis Holden : 8/06/2005 12:04:00 PM

The problem really is that if Auckland is allowed to continue to sprawl randomly and uncontrollably, any rail system that gets built won't be useful to more than a few people. (The two biggest growth areas at the moment are the N. Shore and the Southeast - the railway isn't proposed to go anywhere near either place).

What is needed is a green-belt around the present developed limits of Auckland and a blanket ban on new construction for 20km or so beyond those limits. Also, a requirement for all new commercial development (offices, factories and shops) to be within walking distance of a rail station (or light rail, busway, etc. with adequate capacity).

Only doing that will make a drive-rail-walk commute a reality for many people.

 Posted by Rich : 8/08/2005 03:04:00 PM

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