The New Zealand government and Auckland Council have announced a $28 billion funding injection into Auckland’s transport system over the next 10 years, including investments in a light rail link to the city’s airport, electrification of the heavy rail line to Pukekohe, and in the City Rail Link project.
The spending commitments are part of an update to the Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) first released under the former National-led government in 2016. The ATAP provides an outline for Auckland’s transport planning and investment priorities over the next 30 years.
Approximately $8.4 billion of the package will go towards accelerating the development of Auckland’s rapid transit network, including $1.8 billion in funding for light rail links – one extending to the city’s airport and another in the Northwest transit corridor.
A further $940 million will fund heavy rail upgrades, including the electrification of the line to Pukekohe and the provision of more electric trains on the western, southern and eastern lines.
This funding would also provide for track upgrades between Wiri and Quay Park, including a third main rail line, upgrades to Westfield junction and access improvements to the Port, rail level crossing upgrades, and Britomart Station remodelling.
New Zealand’ rail operator KiwiRail has welcomed the funding announcement, with chief executive Peter Reidy saying that increased investment – in the North Island Main Trunk rail line, the third main additional freight line and the Pukekohe electrification – would bring significant benefits to commuters and the freight industry.
“This will allow for greater numbers of commuter and freight trains on the network as the City Rail Link project comes to fruition and as demand for regional passenger trains grows,” Reidy said.
“Equally important is the recognition of safety issues in Auckland with more frequent trains. Additional funding has been planned for grade separation at crossings which will create greater distance between cars, pedestrians and trains.
“Safety and keeping traffic moving around the city post CRL is a big consideration in the years ahead.”
New Zealand’s transport minister, Phil Twyford, making the ATAP announcement from Newmarket Train Station, criticised the efforts of the previous government, saying that they had left a “fiscal hole” of $5.9 billion in the earlier version of the ATAP. He averred that the updated plan served to rectify this.
“Today’s package fills that gap,” Twyford said.
“We have to do things differently. And this plan today is a signal for change and we will do things differently.”
Around $4.4 billion in extra funding is to be raised via a new Regional Fuel Tax (RFT), increased revenue the National Land Transport Fund and Crown Infrastructure Partners contributions.
Auckland’s major, Phil Goff, said the infrastructure expenditure made possible by the RFT (which is planned to levy 10c per litre on Auckland petrol sales) would benefit transport development over the entire region.
“Without the RFT, Auckland would be able to do little more than fund the operation and renewal of the existing transport system and projects which have already been committed to,” Goff said
“That would leave congestion caused by Auckland’s annual growth in population of 45,000 a year to get much worse causing growing frustration at increasing gridlock and imposing over a billion dollars of lost productivity costs on New Zealand’s economy.”