Category: Hot Discussion

An issue causing hot discussion either here in the blog or in the wider community

Amendment to CRL Start Date in the Long Term Plan

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Mayor seeks amendment in Draft 2015-2025 LTP

 

A more surprising presser hit our inbox(es) late this afternoon. It is on the City Rail Link and the start date for the main project (i.e not the enabling works).

From Auckland Council – specifically the Office of the Mayor:

Mayor proposes amendment to CRL timing in draft LTP

 

Following discussions with Audit NZ, the Mayor is proposing an amendment in Council’s draft Long-term Plan 2015-2025 on the timing for construction of Auckland’s number one transport priority – the City Rail Link (CRL). 

In its draft budget, Council has the CRL project commencing in 2015/16, based on an assumption government’s funding contribution for the project would also start next year, five years earlier than government has so far indicated. 

On Tuesday 9 December, council will consider changing the assumption of timing of the government contribution to 2018/19. This will mean enablement works of $280 million will still take place in the first three years of the plan, but construction will not start until 2018/19. This will also delay the completion date to 2023. 

Mayor Len Brown says: 

“We have a track record of success with central government when it comes to the CRL – we have moved them from a position of total opposition to one of commitment for funding half the project from the year 2020,” says Mayor Len Brown. 

“Yes, we still have to work with government on final timing, but I’m confident we can come to an agreement and get on and get this job done. 

“I understand why Audit NZ feel that we need to take a more conservative approach to our financial projections and I am proposing that we develop the LTP based on a later timing of government contribution.” 

Public consultation on the draft LTP begins January 23 next year. The final plan is due for adoption June 30, 2015.

—-ends—-

 

The extraordinary agenda can be seen here:

 

In highlights to that agenda:

In the 2012-22 LTP we assumed central government funding would commence from the year 2015-16 and the financial data for the 2015-25 LTP has carried that assumption through. The consultation document has been written with three alternative scenarios set out for public consideration:

  • Option 1 – government funding starts in 2015/16 and project proceeds on original timelines
  • Option 2 – government funding starts in 2018/19 – enablement works only for next three years and then construction starting in 2018/19
  • Option 3 – government funding starts in 2020/21 – enablement works only for next three years, construction starts in 2018/19, backed by a firm commitment for government funding from 2020.
  1. While all three scenarios are described in the public consultation document the LTP financials are currently built on Option 1.
  2. Over the last couple of weeks, as staff have been preparing the consultation document for Governing Body sign off later this month, it has become apparent that Audit New Zealand’s view is that it would be more prudent to build the LTP financials on one of the alternative scenarios. In order to ensure we prepare a consultation document consistent with Audit New Zealand’s expectations, I am now proposing that we adopt Option 2 as the basis of our LTP financials.
  3. This option will continue to keep the pressure on the Government to contribute funding earlier than the current commitment, but gives more time for us to work with it to achieve a common view. It also allows us to keep faith with our private sector partners by progressing the enablement works. While it delays the construction timing by a couple of years it has only a relatively minor impact on the financial situation.

Scenario One

Financial information

$ million
Year ended 30 June		 Prior years 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Total
Capital expenditure 178 156 267 432 438 425 481 102 -88 2,391
Government contribution 0 167 133 216 219 200 194 51 -44 1,137
CRL related closing debt 163 155 295 528 778 1,047 1,318 1,343 1,271 1,243 1,215

Assumptions

  • Council proceeds with all project phases
  • Central government contribution from 2015/2016
  • Operational from 2020/2021

Financial impacts

  • Closing group debt of $10.5 billion
  • Interest to revenue ratio does not exceed 12%

 

Scenario Two

Financial information

$ million
Year ended 30 June		 Prior years 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Total
Capital expenditure 178 145 177 78 319 372 416 464 201 137 2,488
Government contribution 0 0 0 0 305 186 195 184 101 68 1,039
CRL related closing debt 163 316 510 614 658 882 1,081 1,340 1,428 1,490 1,487

Assumptions

  • Council proceeds with only investigation and design, land purchases and enablement works for the next three years (total $400 million)
  • Council funds the enablement works (about $280m of the $400m)
  • Central government contribution from 2018/2019
  • Full construction starts 2018/2019
  • Operational from 2022/2023

Financial impacts

  • Total capital expenditure is $97 million higher due to the inflation impact of spending later
  • Government funding reduces by $98 million due to the self-funding of enablement works
  • Closing group debt $272m higher than Scenario One ($10.8b)
  • Interest to revenue ratio does not exceed 12%
  • No difference to rates increases from Scenario One

 

……………

 

Again a simple explanation on how the City Rail Link works:

A Simple But Not Exhaustive Explanation of the City Rail Link

The City Rail Link and Auckland

As I explained to Rebekka’s dad the CRL works on the following premises:
As of current all Western Line trains run from Waitakere, Swanson and Henderson into Britomart on a trip that takes around an hour. Those trains must pass through Newmarket where there is a 3min stand down as drviers change ends to allow the Newmarket to Britomart leg of the trip.
The Western Line as a result mixes with the Southern Line and Onehunga Line trains causing congestion. To make matters worse those trains then get caught outside Britomart as they mix with Eastern Line Trains causing delays and congestion.The CRL would allow Western Line Trains from Mt Eden to travel down the 3.5km tunnel to Britomart skipping Newmarket and thus not running into Southern, Eastern and Onehunga Line Trains as a result. We also get two new stations on the CRL including Aotea which is going to be the busiest being in the middle of the CBD itself.

Time savings go from 60mins to about 43mins there about from Swanson to Britomart via the CRL as a result. You will still get Swanson to Newmarket services that will then continue either on to Onehunga or even Papakura – the South to West services.As the Western Line services are removed from the Newmarket-Britomart leg this frees track space for Eastern, Southern and Onehunga Line trains allow their frequencies to go from 10mins to 5mins in the peak of peaks. This means a train from Papakura every 5mins in the peak if so needed. Result? Capacity increases and the allowances of new lines such as Airport and the North Shore (Botany would be serviced by a Sky Train concept).
That is how the CRL works – it services the bulk of Auckland….

………….

 

Comment

So a 2018 start date for the main project with the enabling works to start as soon as feasibly possible.

That date I have widely touted as a start date for the main project (2017-2018) since I wrote my Auckland Plan submission in 2011. The logic moving the main start date to 2018 in the agenda paper seems consistent in part to the reasoning I used for a 2018 start date for the main project.

It is good to see (although other questions on why so long to move the main start date to 2018 do come up) the Mayor seeking the amendment for the CRL start date via the 2015-2025 Long Term Plan. Now to get the true alternative funding sources that are not extra rates nor tolls sorted by 2018….

Next move falls to us the ratepayer and conversely the Government as well for their funding share…

Western Lines Services to Huapai?

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Waste of OPEX where buses are more efficient in running the trip instead

 

And so the Public Transport Users Association has put out their first project presser:

Rally for Rail This Thursday

A group of local residents and would-be train users are meeting at the Huapai train station this Thursday, but they might be waiting a long time for a train. Despite proposed growth of thousands of new homes in Huapai and Riverhead, an existing railway line to the heart of the growth area, and existing stations and diesel rolling stock, Auckland Transport are not planning for trains.
A new group hopes to change that. The Public Transport Users Association is a voluntary organisation, newly established to give current and future public transport users a voice. They are launching their first campaign this week, to retain and extend rail services from Swanson to Waitakere and Huapai.
Chairperson of the new group, and former Chair of Auckland’s Regional Transport Committee, Christine Rose, who is a local bus and train user, says Waitakere and Kumeu communities must be the only communities in the region facing a worse public transport future, with the withdrawal of train services to Waitakere, and the cancellation of long-held plans for hourly rail services to Huapai.
“The Northwestern motorway is severely congested and can’t keep up with growth in our area. Auckland Transport have no plans for a decent, dedicated, congestion free bus way to the Northwest. But we do have a significant underutilised asset in the rail, stations and rolling stock, that could provide a viable alternative for existing and future commuters”.
The Public Transport Users Association is launching the WestRail campaign at 4 on 4 December, but have already been encouraged by locals in support of rail services to the area. Further engagement with the community will follow. The group are also engaging with locals at the Waitakere station from 7-9 on Thursday morning, talking to commuters and encouraging awareness about the feasibility and need for rail services retained and extended in our area.

Further Information

  • The Rally for Huapai Rail will be held at 4pm, Thursday 4pm at the Huapai train station and consultation with Waitakere rail commuters, from 7-9 on the same day.
  • Hourly rail services to Huapai were long planned by Auckland’s transport authorities, and was included in the Auckland Passenger Transport Plan until last year Auckland Transport plans to remove Waitakere rail services altogether, by early 2015

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Not the best project I can think of here with our limited funding towards Auckland Transport as is.

The problems:

  1. Hourly services do not cut it as we know with the Manukau Link in the off peak and as the Western Line had in its weekend runs until recently
  2. The trip from Haupai to Britomart is a circuitous one and would be about 75mins compared to around an hour by bus via the North Western Motorway, even quicker once the bus lanes are reopened in 2017 or the bus way built alongside
  3. The line between Swanson and Northland is in poor shape and riddled with speed restrictions that would make the trip slower as is. The Government has no intentions of upgrading that part of the line any time soon
  4. The EMU’s from next year will be doing the Swanson to Britomart run. This means a diesel shuttle from Swanson toHuapai would be needed much like the Pukekohe to Papakura service from next year that will be diesels.
    1. That might have been okay but the Henderson depot will be housing the Electrics and the diesel fuelling facilities will be removed. That means the diesels would be parked at Westfield thus resulting in a lot of dead running between Westfield and Swanson to do the shuttle services. The Pukekohe-Papakura diesel shuttle will have the diesels at Pukekohe with the fuelling facility there thus minimising the dead running
  5. The OPEX cost for diesels is higher than the EMUs with reliability problems creeping in as well. This OPEX cost that would need to be found could have funded in part the North Western Busway. So an opportunity cost presents itself if the western diesel shuttles were to run.
  6. The age of the diesel fleet apart from the ADL DMUs is old. The ADL’s that were built in the 80s would be used on the Southern Line meaning no spare units post decommissioning. In anycase the DC locos used to haul the SA sets are leased to use by Kiwi Rail thus another OPEX cost…

 

Conclusion?

Not a good start for the PTUA……

 

Auckland Development Committee – December Meeting

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Area Plans, Mill Road, and Special Housing Areas

 

Tomorrow for the last time this year the Auckland Development Committee meets in Town Hall. The agenda items cover:

  • Public Input around the Mill Road Corridor, and Special Housing Area Tranche 4
  • Adoption of a couple of Area Plans including the Otara-Papatoetoe Area Plan
  • Takapuna Centre Plan
  • Updates around various items including housing, infrastructure, and a growth study

 

The Agenda and Addendum Agenda for December

 

 

Podcasts on a walk through of Manukau, plus why the Auckland Development Committee has attracted my ire will be going up today and tomorrow