The Hon Stephen Joyce should be feeling well and truly in a corner over Auckland rail now. Hopefully he will see sense and make some appropriate announcements very shortly. Can't imagine that the Government would like the SuperCity election campaign next year to turn into one where every candidate campaigns against central government transport priorities!
I know there's a lot of enthusiasm for the Britomart Loop - because it will get rid of the bottle-neck and all that - but there are some major planning issues around CBD rail that should be in the public domain.
Today, Britomart is the only railway station in the Auckland CBD. Its configuration constrains the Auckland rail network’s passenger carrying capacity. The Britomart Rail Tunnel project could release this constraint, and add one, two or three more stations, depending on which historical plan is considered. These plans were all prepared before the Auckland region decided to accept a Northern Rail connection to the North Shore through a harbour tunnel, as its preferred alignment and mode for the second harbour crossing.
The strategic planning issues this project poses are many and varied:
• A key objective for Ontrack is to increase rail freight, which in Auckland shares the network with commuter rail services. The implications of this conflict needs to be understood, and options for managing it considered to avoid rail freight services inhibiting the development of high capacity and high frequency passenger transport rail services.
• While the Britomart Rail Tunnel project has been around in some shape or form for almost 85 years, limited strategic planning for Auckland CBD Rail has been carried out recently that takes account of the provisions contained in Plan Change 6 to Auckland’s Regional Policy Statement, let alone a possible rail connection to the North Shore. ARTA (Auckland Regional Transport Authority), which now has the responsibility for planning Auckland’s passenger transport service network, has not conducted the necessary comprehensive strategic planning to support a NOR for the Britomart Rail Tunnel project.
• Auckland City Council will need to be involved in the planning for the size, location and functionality of railway stations within the CBD area, as well as bus/rail interchanges that might be required on the CBD periphery. ARTA, ARC and ACC will need to coordinate and sequence land use changes, the staging of transport infrastructure construction, and the roll out of new rail services – in order to optimise integration outcomes. There is a need to properly coordinate these planning processes in accordance with RLTS provisions, which suggest a duty to establish an appropriate “CBD Rail Steering Group” including ACC, ARC, ARTA and Ontrack.
• The Auckland CBD has changed immeasurably since the Britomart Tunnel was first conceived almots 100 years ago. Other major destinations have emerged: Hospital, Domain, University. If the goal is to reduce the need to take a bus into the CBD - because there is good rail - then these other destinations need to be served by an underground CBD rail network, of which Britomart Tunnel is one corridor. ARTA are engaging with this planning. It needs to be public.
These questions need to be addressed thoroughly in an Integrated Transport Assessment process in accordance with RPS provisions, culminating in the development of a publicly agreed long term Auckland CBD rail network plan, before Ontrack can legitimately proceed to issue a Notice of Requirement for the Britomart Rail Tunnel project.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Good to see John Banks supporting CBD rail extensions...
The Hon Stephen Joyce should be feeling well and truly in a corner over Auckland rail now. Hopefully he will see sense and make some appropriate announcements very shortly. Can't imagine that the Government would like the SuperCity election campaign next year to turn into one where every candidate campaigns against central government transport priorities!
I know there's a lot of enthusiasm for the Britomart Loop - because it will get rid of the bottle-neck and all that - but there are some major planning issues around CBD rail that should be in the public domain.
Today, Britomart is the only railway station in the Auckland CBD. Its configuration constrains the Auckland rail network’s passenger carrying capacity. The Britomart Rail Tunnel project could release this constraint, and add one, two or three more stations, depending on which historical plan is considered. These plans were all prepared before the Auckland region decided to accept a Northern Rail connection to the North Shore through a harbour tunnel, as its preferred alignment and mode for the second harbour crossing.
The strategic planning issues this project poses are many and varied:
• A key objective for Ontrack is to increase rail freight, which in Auckland shares the network with commuter rail services. The implications of this conflict needs to be understood, and options for managing it considered to avoid rail freight services inhibiting the development of high capacity and high frequency passenger transport rail services.
• While the Britomart Rail Tunnel project has been around in some shape or form for almost 85 years, limited strategic planning for Auckland CBD Rail has been carried out recently that takes account of the provisions contained in Plan Change 6 to Auckland’s Regional Policy Statement, let alone a possible rail connection to the North Shore. ARTA (Auckland Regional Transport Authority), which now has the responsibility for planning Auckland’s passenger transport service network, has not conducted the necessary comprehensive strategic planning to support a NOR for the Britomart Rail Tunnel project.
• Auckland City Council will need to be involved in the planning for the size, location and functionality of railway stations within the CBD area, as well as bus/rail interchanges that might be required on the CBD periphery. ARTA, ARC and ACC will need to coordinate and sequence land use changes, the staging of transport infrastructure construction, and the roll out of new rail services – in order to optimise integration outcomes. There is a need to properly coordinate these planning processes in accordance with RLTS provisions, which suggest a duty to establish an appropriate “CBD Rail Steering Group” including ACC, ARC, ARTA and Ontrack.
• The Auckland CBD has changed immeasurably since the Britomart Tunnel was first conceived almots 100 years ago. Other major destinations have emerged: Hospital, Domain, University. If the goal is to reduce the need to take a bus into the CBD - because there is good rail - then these other destinations need to be served by an underground CBD rail network, of which Britomart Tunnel is one corridor. ARTA are engaging with this planning. It needs to be public.
These questions need to be addressed thoroughly in an Integrated Transport Assessment process in accordance with RPS provisions, culminating in the development of a publicly agreed long term Auckland CBD rail network plan, before Ontrack can legitimately proceed to issue a Notice of Requirement for the Britomart Rail Tunnel project.
I know there's a lot of enthusiasm for the Britomart Loop - because it will get rid of the bottle-neck and all that - but there are some major planning issues around CBD rail that should be in the public domain.
Today, Britomart is the only railway station in the Auckland CBD. Its configuration constrains the Auckland rail network’s passenger carrying capacity. The Britomart Rail Tunnel project could release this constraint, and add one, two or three more stations, depending on which historical plan is considered. These plans were all prepared before the Auckland region decided to accept a Northern Rail connection to the North Shore through a harbour tunnel, as its preferred alignment and mode for the second harbour crossing.
The strategic planning issues this project poses are many and varied:
• A key objective for Ontrack is to increase rail freight, which in Auckland shares the network with commuter rail services. The implications of this conflict needs to be understood, and options for managing it considered to avoid rail freight services inhibiting the development of high capacity and high frequency passenger transport rail services.
• While the Britomart Rail Tunnel project has been around in some shape or form for almost 85 years, limited strategic planning for Auckland CBD Rail has been carried out recently that takes account of the provisions contained in Plan Change 6 to Auckland’s Regional Policy Statement, let alone a possible rail connection to the North Shore. ARTA (Auckland Regional Transport Authority), which now has the responsibility for planning Auckland’s passenger transport service network, has not conducted the necessary comprehensive strategic planning to support a NOR for the Britomart Rail Tunnel project.
• Auckland City Council will need to be involved in the planning for the size, location and functionality of railway stations within the CBD area, as well as bus/rail interchanges that might be required on the CBD periphery. ARTA, ARC and ACC will need to coordinate and sequence land use changes, the staging of transport infrastructure construction, and the roll out of new rail services – in order to optimise integration outcomes. There is a need to properly coordinate these planning processes in accordance with RLTS provisions, which suggest a duty to establish an appropriate “CBD Rail Steering Group” including ACC, ARC, ARTA and Ontrack.
• The Auckland CBD has changed immeasurably since the Britomart Tunnel was first conceived almots 100 years ago. Other major destinations have emerged: Hospital, Domain, University. If the goal is to reduce the need to take a bus into the CBD - because there is good rail - then these other destinations need to be served by an underground CBD rail network, of which Britomart Tunnel is one corridor. ARTA are engaging with this planning. It needs to be public.
These questions need to be addressed thoroughly in an Integrated Transport Assessment process in accordance with RPS provisions, culminating in the development of a publicly agreed long term Auckland CBD rail network plan, before Ontrack can legitimately proceed to issue a Notice of Requirement for the Britomart Rail Tunnel project.
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