New Zealand Transport Agency and Auckland Transport boards signed an important agreement on the next steps for Auckland’s Airport LRT project.
Both institutions agreed that there will be a staged, integrated transition from bus to light rail transit from the Airport to the city centre, based on future demand and capacity, and to commence route protection for this important gateway corridor between two of Auckland’s key growing employment areas.
Further work will be done to assess key operational elements, required trade-offs, flow on effects, transition impacts and network resilience issues.
The NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Transport will work together with Auckland Council to determine an integrated approach that enables a progression from the current bus services and bus lanes, to improved bus services in the short-term. This will potentially be followed by higher capacity buses and a dedicated bus mass transit right of way, before a transition to light rail transit could occur.
The timing for this transition will be based on demand, capacity and funding.
“This is a positive and constructive next step in bringing the Auckland Transport Alignment Project to life. The parties involved are now in agreement that urgent action needs to be taken and we will commence route protection for mass transit. The agencies have agreed and confirmed through various studies that Dominion Rd is the preferred route and we all acknowledge not only the importance of the Airport Precinct and the city centre, but the public transport access and connectivity that is needed along the route,” Auckland Transport Chief Executive David Warburton said.
In December, NZ Transport Agency announced that the light rail to the airport and North Shore as projects that could be 100 percent funded by central government. The LRT development to the aiport is estimated at USD 1.45 billion and the North Shore LRT, at USD 1.1 billion.
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