Light Rail: a sensible investment

There's been some recent discussion about the likely costs of my plan to implement a world-class light rail system for Wellington. Figures as high as $36-$56 million per kilometre have been bandied about, so I thought some actual numbers from real-world light rail systems might be helpful to inform the debate.

It turns out that Sydney is busy extending their light rail system at the moment, with the system rapidly taking shape, according to the Sydney Morning Herald:

"The extension of the light rail from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill is continuing at a cracking pace. The laying of track is almost half finished. The rest of the track should be complete - with new rails and concrete sleepers - by mid-November. Industry sources have told the Herald that test vehicles, although not trams carrying passengers, could be on the rails by early next year.

"Rail industry sources believe the cost of the entire project could be as little as $85 million. In May last year, the light rail operators, MetroTransport Sydney, estimated the cost of extending the line by 5.6 kilometres would cost about $70 million."

So Sydney is able to build a state-of-the-art light rail system for around AUD$15 million per kilometre - and even in New Zealand dollars that's still less than $19 million per kilometre. Surely this is the example we should be emulating!

Of course, the engineering requirements in each city are different. On the downside, we live in an earthquake zone and need to ensure that the system is robust enough to cope (although Christchurch's trams seem to have come through unscathed), but on the upside some work has already been done - the strengthening of Manners Mall for buses will provide a very suitable path for light rail at very little additional cost.

While some of these costs may sound high, light rail is still a much more sensible investment than roads. For instance, estimates for the proposed Basin Reserve flyover have ranged as high as $98 million for a section of road less than 500 metres long - nearly $200 million per kilometre! And with proper maintenance, rail systems last a very long time - parts of New Zealand's rail network were first built in the 1870s, and modern trams have a much longer operational life than buses.

I've had advice that the light rail network from the railway station to the airport will have a likely price tag of $300-$400 million. For a system that has the power to transform the way we move around our city, will improve public transport as well as reducing traffic congestion and will help with Wellington's economic revitalisation, this is a very worthwhile investment.