Today's Wellington Dominion Post newspaper has a page three article with regional council chair Chris Laidlaw promoting light rail. The accompanying illustration (attached) shows two Melbourne Citadis Bumblebee trams in downtown Lambton Quay, drawing their power from TROLLEY BUS WIRES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That would be shocking! And with the destination sign QUEENSGATE, a shopping mall in far-off Lower Hutt.

A tram line to Queensgate, even if it used the closest rail line before turning off to run on the congested streets to get there, is almost as impractical as the Auckland proposal Laidlaw is lauding; to run a tram (in 30 years time!) to Auckland Airport via Dominion Road.

While Dominion Road is a logical tram line, with heavy patronage and many stops, the suggested airport extension is too distant to make it time-practical and the much-needed airport rail link should be a straightforward extension of the existing Onehunga railway line which was the intention until, apparently, now.

This is the Wellington article:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/90856826/auckland-light-rail-plan-a-boost-for-option-in-wellington-says-laidlaw http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/90856826/auckland-light-rail-plan-a-boost-for-option-in-wellington-says-laidlaw

And here is the Auckland one:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11824942 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11824942

Yes yes yes I know the Bumblebees have been re-liveried. I'm not responsible for either the illustrations or articles in the Dominion Post or any other NZ newspaper.

david in Wellington, knows nothing