Auckland Transport and KiwiRail are finalising a plan to build a 12km heavy rail line west from Southdown to Avondale, digging right through several neighbourhoods
Paul Janman climbs up the rambling path that he and other volunteers have cleared above a small stream, to reach a sunny spur overlooking Manukau Harbour. This block of land has been a labour of love for his family and other locals, who have spent 10 years clearing the rubbish from the block of KiwiRail land, and planting native bush.
Janman coordinates an Onehunga people's garden project that has helped bring native fish and birdlife back to the area – but now, he's dismayed to learn KiwiRail plans to claim back this block of land, and up to 100 more that it owns, and run a heavy rail route through to Avondale.
The community has centuries of historical significance to Māori, European and Pasifika settlers, and ecological significance to all of Auckland. "What we have to avoid here is this Nimbyist argument that we don't want this just because it's in our backyard," he says.
"We have to consider the bigger picture like savings in carbon emissions by making the route more direct. But we need to weigh that up with the impact on local ecologies and communities, and we also have to acknowledge our history."
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The Government designated the route and began buying up land in the 1940s, when Auckland was a very different city, but KiwiRail says it's now made more urgent by the construction of the City Rail Link, meaning all the lines through Newmarket and central Auckland will be required for passenger rail.
The new line is a "crucial" solution to bringing freight from Whangārei's Northport – and should lower emissions by getting diesel trucks off the roads. It could also carry express passenger services between south Auckland and west Auckland.
But the projected 10-12-year construction project would cut a trench or tunnel deep through heavily populated Onehunga.
Maps indicate KiwiRail owns 80 to 100 properties there. It's been leasing them out, but it's understood most leases have a standard six-month notice term.
Its existing corridor of leased properties would be too narrow, in places, to cut a trench, so infrastructure experts say KiwiRail would likely have to voluntarily or compulsorily acquire more properties. Even with the house price decline of the past two years, properties abutting this rail route are selling for $2 million-plus.
It seems other government agencies are preparing for the inevitable: the Ministry of Education is voluntarily relinquishing its lease on a large block of Onehunga High School land, containing carparks and prefab classrooms.
But Auckland Light Rail has now ruled out piggybacking on the route, saying the community has made clear they don't want the impact on residential areas.
"State highway 20 cut off residents from the whole Manukau Harbour. And now we've got this proposal for a freight railway to do the same. I think that's another symbolic slap in the face for Onehunga." – Paul Janman
Mayor Wayne Brown had asked Auckland Light Rail to consider running its rails along the same route as the heavy rail – but Light Rail has taken a very different view to KiwiRail.
After consulting more than 2000 locals, it proposes to go straight down the south-western motorway, rather than inland through Onehunga. "Aligning Light Rail next to the motorway corridor will mean less noise and disruption on local roads," says chief executive Tommy Parker.
The stance taken by Auckland Light Rail may become irrelevant, as National plans to stop that project if elected – leaving the way entirely clear for KiwiRail.
The deepest cut
Running west from near the existing Te Papapa station on the Onehunga commuter line, the heavy rail route would chop across the back of Onehunga's shopping precinct and the popular DressMart outlet mall, before sidling along the back boundary of Onehunga Primary School.
It would then have to cross Selwyn St and dig west through a heavily populated spur that rises 50 metres above sea level, crossing 15 roads before it reaches the south-western motorway. It would follow that all the way up to Avondale, where it would again have to cut a corner through some residential and light industrial neighbourhoods.
"Going right back to the 19th Century, there are a whole list of different ways that government agencies have split Onehunga in two," says Janman.
"One of the most significant and visible ones is state highway 20, cutting off residents from the Onehunga beach, the bay, and the whole Manukau Harbour. And now we've got this proposal for a freight railway to do the same, just a little bit further up the hill. I think that's another symbolic slap in the face for Onehunga."
Scott Evans is the head of infrastructure for the Ministry of Education. He says Onehunga High School's longstanding lease on its block of KiwiRail land expires on May 31 next year, coinciding with the completion date of the school's redevelopment.
"We are currently constructing new learning support classrooms for students who are currently using the temporary buildings on the KiwiRail-leased land," he says. "We are on schedule for work to be completed in late October, and then we will remove the temporary buildings, restore the land and hand the site back to KiwiRail prior to the lease expiry."
A slow burn
Unbeknown to the public, KiwiRail has been quietly chipping away at the plan for years. During last year's local election campaign, it won the backing of Wayne Brown.
Then two weeks ago, the Government identified it as one of 14 key strategic projects for transport agency Waka Kotahi to consider as it develops its next 10-year National Land Transport Plan.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made no mention of the new heavy rail route, but did say the transport plan would strengthen New Zealand’s infrastructure and provide certainty to the construction industry that the Government would invest to close the country's infrastructure deficit.
Now, Auckland Transport and KiwiRail are finalising a 30-year business case for the region's rail network. Though that plan hasn't yet been published, the council's transport committee has been told the Southdown-to-Avondale route will be a key part of it.
‘The Avondale-Onehunga Link is a crucial part of the long-term Auckland network and enables many benefits. If Northport is to play a much greater role on New Zealand’s supply chain, then it needs a rail connection through the Auckland isthmus.’ – David Gordon, KiwiRail
Transport Minister David Parker was briefed on the "high-level plans" last month. He was told local board engagement for the Auckland Rail Programme Business Case had begun to gather feedback and local intelligence on transport challenges and aspirations from communities.
The business case includes a fourth main line up the existing main trunk corridor, and building the Avondale-to-Southdown line. These improvements would enable greater commuter and freight capacity and reduce net carbon emissions from transport activities, while supporting continued and sustainable economic growth.
"Benefits include decongestion of the network, reduced journey times, fewer delays to freight and passenger services, improved safety and more efficient maintenance programmes," he was told.
Debbie Burrows is on one of those local boards, representing Onehunga – and she also lives between SH20 and the proposed rail route.
"It just seems at odds with our urban design principles and aspirations for Auckland," she says. "It still seems an absolute absurdity that you would decimate a community, through a special character zone and two neighbouring schools, taking out businesses, and families whose houses are on lease land from KiwiRail."
Onehunga residents are no strangers to living in a transport corridor, she says – it's hard to ignore state highway 20 slicing across the waterfront. "But what was a good idea 80 years ago, when Onehunga looked extremely different from what it is today – surely, there's some common sense out there recognising it's not a good idea today."
Burrows says she’s thought long and hard about whether the opposition is simply Nimbyism, and she remains convinced it’s not. “Nimbyism would be saying, ‘not over my dead body’.
"We accept we’re in a critical infrastructure corridor, we’ve got the motorway, we’ve got transport, we’ve got the Vector lines and pylons – we choose to live in this area, because all those things also make us very well connected to the rest of Auckland."
But, she says, the transport routes need to be looked at through a 2023 lens, rather than just accepting route designations set in place in the 1940s. "What are our aspirations for all of Auckland, not just Onehunga? The Auckland Plan 2050 is all about urban design principles and making communities more vibrant and connected. Shoving a heavy rail line through the centre of special character heritage houses, highly intensified areas and roads that are already highly congested, is dividing the community, not connecting it."
She says it's time to revisit alternate routes, such as the existing motorway corridor, and remove the 80-year-old route designation through residential neighbourhoods. "Let's be upfront, it's just not going to work. And the cost of it is prohibitive."
'Crucial' to network
KiwiRail confirms to Newsroom that the route is included in the draft 30-year business case, to be published later this year.
And chief planning and asset development officer David Gordon says the draft Government Policy Statement allocates funding to begin detailed design on the link from the Southdown freight terminal to rejoin the main trunk line at Avondale.
If funded, the detailed design would give a clear understanding of costs to build the link, he says. Detailed design is expected to take a few years to complete, then, a business case would also need to be done before any construction started. If construction was then funded, KiwiRail expects it would be staged over 10 to 12 years.
"In KiwiRail’s view, the Avondale-Onehunga Link is a crucial part of the long-term Auckland network and enables many benefits," he says.
"If Northport is to play a much greater role in New Zealand’s supply chain, then it needs a rail connection through the Auckland isthmus.
"There are two ways to achieve that: either more freight trains travel via Newmarket then out west on the commuter lines, effectively capping the capacity created by the City Rail Link. Or, they travel via the Avondale-Onehunga Link, avoiding the central city entirely."
Gordon says if Port of Auckland is reduced in size or shut down, having the Avondale-Onehunga Link in place means the whole of the inner-city area could become passenger rail only – leaving the freight to travel along the new route. This would allow even more frequent commuter services in the central Auckland metro rail network.
And as an added benefit, he says, the Avondale-Onehunga Link would also be available for passenger services – enabling express metro services from the south to the north-west and increasing connectivity across the entire passenger network, as it creates an "outer passenger loop".
"The link creates significant network resilience benefits, in that it offers an alternate route through Auckland if other lines are damaged in weather events, and improved network maintenance access – which is important to keep the network to a high standard so that train services remain reliable."
Disclosure: Jonathan Milne lives in Onehunga near the designated rail route. He acknowledges the potential for this to influence his reporting on the infrastructure project.
