4.
KEITH LOCKE (Green)
to the
Minister of Transport
: Is he confident that at least part of Auckland’s electric rail system will be rolling in time to help move the 75,000 international visitors and countless Kiwi fans expected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport)
:
No, and it was never going to be the case. The Auckland metro rail electrification project has always been, and remains, due for completion in 2013.
Keith Locke
: As Auckland’s regional fuel tax was cancelled in March, how will the purchase of the electric railcars be funded; and if the funding decision has not yet been made, when will it be made?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE
: The funding decision for the half-billion dollar electric trains has not yet been made because agency officials are working on the scope of the project and on the funding for it. When that has been completed to the satisfaction of me and the agency concerned, the decision will be made.
Nikki Kaye
: What work is under way to improve Auckland’s railway network in time for the Rugby World Cup?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE
: The Government has made a commitment to enhance significantly the public transport infrastructure around Eden Park, particularly for rail travel, in time for the Rugby World Cup. That work includes redevelopment of the Kingsland Railway Station and Morningside Railway Station. In fact, the Morningside station is now up and running; I as Minister opened it on 7 August. Other projects include track crossovers at the Kingsland station to enable trains to run to and from the central business district from both of Kingsland’s platforms, a major new signalling system between the Britomart and Kingsland stations, and improvements at the Newmarket junction. All of that work is part of the substantial sum of $1.6 billion that the Government has committed to investing in the Auckland rail network.
Keith Locke
: Can the Minister guarantee that the 140 electric railcars, which are needed, will be purchased as originally planned?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE
: No, I cannot. Once we put the agencies together in a room—which is something that should have happened a long time ago—we discovered a number of potential overruns with the project, totalling up to around $200 million. These include the lack of any significant contingency planning at all for the project, potentially between $50 million and $150 million of additional base infrastructure requirements, and potentially up to $30 million of platform extensions. We have therefore decided, in working with the agencies, that we need to make sure that the scope of the project is properly done so that we can ensure 10-minute frequencies across the network once the project is complete.
Hon Darren Hughes
: What leadership is the Minister taking to remove any of the so-called stumbling blocks that he has outlined today that are preventing the purchase of 140 new electric railcars for Auckland, something has already been delayed while he has been the Minister, creating the distinct impression that this Government is not committed to public transport, at all?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE
: I am encouraging the officials to use their calculators properly and carefully, which is something that did not appear to have happened under the previous Government.
Keith Locke
: Can the Minister guarantee that ONTRACK’s electrification plan “extending from Papakura in the south to Swanson in the west, and including the Onehunga branch line and the future Manukau link” will still proceed; if not, which parts of the network will not proceed?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE
: The half a billion dollars that was allocated under the previous Government for the electrification of those lines remains in place, and provided that it can be done within that sum of money, it will, of course, proceed to the full extent.
Keith Locke
: Will it not be embarrassing if international visitors to the 2011 Rugby World Cup see that we have been fluffing around with the electrification of Auckland’s rail system, particularly when it is very obvious that we need it to get people around Auckland, and to counter the effect of higher oil prices?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE
: If that is the member’s view, then probably he should have worked with the previous Government, which the Greens were involved with, to ensure that the planning occurred to enable it to be done by 2011, but it was scheduled for 2013, and it is on schedule to be done by then.