Rail transport for Auckland's North Shore

[Myrtone]

There are currently public transport improvement projects going on in Auckland such as the City Rail link, which will slightly increase coverage and allow suburban rail services in Auckland to greatly increase, and it would provide a level of mobility above and beyond that of cars, not at their expense, as for example, bus priority and dedicated bus lanes do.

Currently there is a busway serving the North Shore which is designed to be converted to rail of some description. I was thinking it should be a light metro (like the London Docklands Light Railway) if it cannot be heavy rail. It would have high platforms, automatic train operation and platform screen doors to boot.

[rtt_rules]

My understanding is that the new govt cancelled the LR project which was horrifically expensive for Auckland although the business case seemed to support a 2.4 return for every $1 spent.

The type of LR used will be determined on where its expected to operate. If its ever on roads then no, your suggestion won't work.

[Myrtone]

But it might be preferable not to run on roads, for reasons to do with frequency and capacity and maybe a tunnel would be useful in the busiest part of Auckland. After all, if the only reason it is light rail is because the corridor is too tight for heavy rail, then definitely consider a light metro as a tunnel under the harbour and into the city centre might be needed anyway.

[Myrtone]

But the way, I found a light metro has been proposed for Auckland, see the article about the proposal.

[rtt_rules]

But the way, I found a light metro has been proposed for Auckland, see the article about the proposal.

This project is cancelled.

The cost was exceeding NZD $15 B and thats before they started detailed design, so expect this number to exceed NZD 20 B. It was going to come close to Sydney's Metro West in cost with a fraction of the capacity of the Sydney Metro West.

[rtt_rules]

But it might be preferable not to run on roads, for reasons to do with frequency and capacity and maybe a tunnel would be useful in the busiest part of Auckland. After all, if the only reason it is light rail is because the corridor is too tight for heavy rail, then definitely consider a light metro as a tunnel under the harbour and into the city centre might be needed anyway.

2014 project was street running, replaced by 2017 project of off street running, then cancelled.

[Myrtone]

I have since found that the tightest curve on the Northern Busway is in the Auckland suburb of Takapuna, perhaps a tunnel bypassing this tight curve would allow the busway to be converted to heavy rail.

[rtt_rules]

I have since found that the tightest curve on the Northern Busway is in the Auckland suburb of Takapuna, perhaps a tunnel bypassing this tight curve would allow the busway to be converted to heavy rail.

I'm sure there are a number of options, but for now the govt has killed the project and I doubt due to the previous cost estimate it will not come back.

Personally I think conversion of Busways to rail is not always ideal as this removes the busway from service during construction for 2- 3 years and it then removed a flexible transport option that would work well in parallel with a few rail option.