Train travel isn’t super cheap, but it isn’t particularly bad either. Certainly if you already own a car and there are several people going at the same time then the marginal cost of gas divided between you is going to be way cheaper than a train fare each.

However if you consider the other running and ownership costs of cars then it can work out cheaper…. especially if using the train to get to work lets you get rid of one car. While just about everyone will want access to a car there are plenty of housholds that have a second (or third or fourth) car that basically exists just to get one person to work and back. If a houshold can get rid of an extra car then they can save $3,000 to $5,000 a year in gas, maintenance, rego and insurance, plus they get back whatever the car sells for and of course they don’t need to replace it in the future. In the right circumstances the savings are several times what a train or bus pass would cost each year.

Another thing to consider is how you value your time. When driving a car all you can do is basically listen to the radio or perhaps make a handsfree phone call, even if you are a passenger it is hard to do much more than sit there. On the train however it is much easier to read, write, make phone calls, read the papers or use a laptop.

It’s hard to put a dollar value on commuter time, but for a business person or student who can get work done during their commute that could add an hour or two of productivity each day.

Really, if they were planning on a new underground eden terrace station, then the western approach tunnel could start just after Kingsland, and the eastern one just after Grafton. I wonder if the grade benefits of spliting the junction into a big underground ‘Y’ would outweight the extra costs.

The simcity fan in me says raze the lot, build a massive underground junction, the re-develop the whole area intensively

You could have a single track ramp either side of the mainline at the two ends, this would result in a flying junction underneath Eden terrace somewhere, rather than a flat junction where the existing station is.

See an example from Melbourne, these two ramps down to/from the city loop start a good kilometre back from the MCG proper:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=-37.821574,144.982254&spn=0.001074,0.002784&t=k&z=19&msid=101291069583876254503.0004768f811186193c95d

However some kind of trench on the eastern approach would allow for and underpass of Normanby Rd, possibly the same to the west with George St also if they were to lower the track back that far.

I hope the electrification tender specifies a high level of power and traction regardless, Auckland is one hilly place.