Electrify Now Speech Excerpt
The Campaign for Better Transport normally tries to avoid preaching to the converted, but today it is necessary to publicly demonstrate the level of support that I know electrification has.
What would electric trains mean for Auckland? We could have a 20 – 30% speed improvement across the entire network. It would mean the express train from Papakura to Auckland would take 23 minutes instead of 38. We know this because a similar result was achieved in Western Australia when the Fremantle – Perth line went electric. This was a real tipping point for Perth because it takes 30 minutes to drive from Fremantle. Suddenly there was no doubt that it was faster and more convenient to leave your car at home.
I’m not against cars. Like most families in Auckland we own one. In fact I was driving it the other day down the north western motorway.
But, ladies and gentlemen, I did not inhale. And the reason I didn’t inhale was the queue of traffic banked up all the way to Western Springs, trying to get through the Central Motorway Junction, which has just had $200m spent on it. How can Transit claim CO2 savings of $19m for a project that clearly doesn’t reduce the number of cars on our roads? How can they claim travel time savings of $512m when there are still queues of traffic? What about claimed vehicle operating cost savings of $361m when the price of petrol keeps increasing?
Look, I don’t doubt there are some benefits to the new Central Motorway Junction. But whenever I drive past the sign that says "Now Fully Open", I can’t help but think of a sign I’ve seen on an aircraft carrier that said “Mission Accomplished”.
Like I said, I’m not against cars, but it just isn’t environmentally or economically sensible to build more road capacity to accommodate people driving themselves to work each day at the same time as everyone else, which is the principle cause of congestion in Auckland.
Wellington already has an electric rail network. It has about 139 carriages compared to Auckland’s 100. So right now we a third less trains than Wellington, attempting to serve four times the number of people. No wonder it is standing room only, and no wonder ARTA is anxious to get new rolling stock as soon as possible.
Electrifying rail should be a no-brainer. The business case for electrification is sound. We knew this back in 2003 when Boston Consulting produced their business plan for electrified rail. If that plan had been carried out electrification would have finished by now. Instead ARTA has had to provide another business case which was presented to Government last year. And we are still waiting for a decision.
The benefit cost ratio for electrification is higher than any roading project in Auckland, but still the most recent comments from the Finance Minister are not encouraging.
“… one can fiddle the figures as much as one likes to produce the answer one wants, but I do not think that is the best way of making rational decisions around these sorts of issues.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the only figures being fiddled at the moment are the ones that place roading projects ahead of giving Auckland a first class public transport system. Roading projects don’t consider the future cost of petrol, green house gas emissions, of car ownership, traffic police or a whole range of costs that are necessary to run the roading network. The way we evaluate and fund transport projects is well and truly broken.
We need to demonstrate to central Government that Aucklanders want faster, quieter and more environmentally friendly options for our transport. With an electric rail network as the backbone of the passenger transport network we can achieve this.
The power is in your hands. Please sign the petiton to electrify Auckland rail, write to your MP, and spread the word.