Well maybe it appears as though my idea for reintroducing trams to central Auckland is catching on. My previous post, which I wrote back on November 12th, was that Auckland should take a look at the success of heritage tram operations in cities such as San Francisco, and perhaps consider one for here. The most obvious route to me would be Queen Street and Tamaki Drive, but also potentially turning west at the bottom of Queen Street to service the new Wynyard Quarter (Tank Farm) development.
And what do you know, today’s Herald includes an article on that very same topic. I don’t think I’m quite naive enough to truly believe that the idea is completely mine, which other people have come across and then taken onwards, but it is remarkably similar to what I came up with a few weeks ago. Some parts of the article are particularly interesting:
Consulting engineer Colin Zeff, who manages Motat’s 2km of heritage tram lines at Western Springs, confirmed his organisation’s willingness to support the proposal from its background of running an operation carrying 130,000 passengers a year.
Well that satisfies my worry that MOTAT wouldn’t be too keen on the idea. Hopefully they would have a good number of trams to get the idea up and running, with the heritage trams being complemented by more modern ones. Also:
The city council’s proposed Te Wero bridge across Viaduct Harbour would be capable of carrying power supply for the trams, and the scheme could eventually be extended along Tamaki Drive or up Queen St.
Well this is really really interesting that council seems to be having a reasonably positive response to it as well.
Cameron Pitches, from the Campaign for Better Transport has done wonders in promoting better public transportation for Auckland – and has actually had some significant wins (such as reopening the Onehunga Branch railway line… which will happen eventually). With him leading the push for the trams idea to at least be considered, it does seem like there’s a fairly decent chance that this idea will go somewhere. Eventually, I definitely agree with the herald article that the scheme could (and should) be extended up Queen Street and along Tamaki Drive. As I explained in my earlier post, trams are a far more attractive option for tourists and also people taking recreational trips. Heck, apparently 130,000 people a year ride the MOTAT tram, which doesn’t serve a purpose beyond being a tourist attraction at all. If the trams were made quick enough there is also potential for the system to be extended down Dominion Road, offering a higher-capacity public transport alternative to buses along this important route. For routes primarily designed for commuting I think a greater reliance on modern trams would be necessary though, as the older ones simply can’t carry enough people for it to be justified.
It’s certainly an interesting development, and I’ll be curious to see what more comes of this.
Processing...