Momentum to keep going

 

In light of Kiwi Rail releasing the non redacted version of the Business Case to the third and fourth rail Mains a petition has started to encourage Government (either pre or post September 24 – the election) to have both Mains built for the price of $160m to $200m.

 

What is the Third and Fourth Mains?

I wrote a piece for The Spinoff that was also carried in the NZ Herald, and Interest.co.nz that outlined the business case here: Finally revealed: report shows rail destroys roading for Auckland freight.

 

In short:

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) uses a “Multi Criteria Analysis” (MCA) to assess funding projects. This was also previously redacted but is now visible. The report reveals that the Third Main had the second-best score in terms of benefits over costs. So what came out as the lead scorer? Here is the MCA:

Building a Third and Fourth Main together (P8 in the table), with a price tag of $200 million, came out first along all criteria lines. Building the Third Main on its own (P9), at a cost of $65 million, was second. Both were well ahead of any other options.

Shifting more freight by road (P3 in the table), which would require upgrading the Southern Motorway, came out worst.

NZTA’s modelling is not as effective in measuring wider benefits and costs as we would like it to be. Just look at the line “Cultural, Social and Environmental Effects”, where all the options are scored 0. That’s a neutral score and shows that cultural, social and environmental effects are not even assessed….

Source: Finally revealed: report shows rail destroys roading for Auckland freight

 

Subsequently Harriet Gale of Greater Auckland (who is attributed to the Third and Fourth Main Business Case saga through her Official Information Act request) along with Bruce (also over at Greater Auckland) started the #Campaign4theMains petition:

 

I have signed the petition as I believe the Third and Fourth Main need to be built by the time the City Rail Link is open in 2023. This way the most congested part of the rail network between Wiri and Westfield can be unlocked, supporting the increasing amount of passenger and freight trains and transform the way we move goods and people more efficiently.

 

So if you believe in unlocking the rail network, supporting increased numbers of freight and passenger trains to meet demand, and transforming the way we move goods and people around then please sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/nzta-getting-the-3rd-and-4th-main-trunk-rail-line-wiri-to-westfield-built.