Incredibly, our campaign for a waterfront tram has been adopted by the ARC and the Sea+City development team. The Campaign for Better Transport and MOTAT pitched the idea to the ARC in 2008, and Mike Lee and Sea+City have well and truly picked up the ball and run with it.
The Herald reports:
Trams are being prepared for a comeback on Auckland’s waterfront, in time for next year’s Rugby World Cup.
More than 50 years since trams disappeared from city streets, the Auckland Regional Council has approved the first stage of a proposal which could ultimately be part of the region’s wider public transport network.
The initial stage will focus on the Tank Farm redevelopment by ARC group subsidiary Sea+City, which will receive $6.3 million to $7.4 million from Auckland Regional Holdings to develop a 1.5km tram circuit by July next year.
Future developments, such as an extension to Britomart across a future Viaduct Harbour bridge, will be left to the new Super City council.
Sea+City expects to initially use two heritage trams from the Museum of Transport and Technology (Motat), although the regional council is also discussing with Victorian state government officials a possible long-term loan of some Melbourne trams as the service grows.
