An artist's impression of what light rail advocates hope to see in the Wellington CBD.

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Chris Laidlaw has come out in support of the planned light rail connection between Auckland's airport and CBD, saying the capital needs to take a "similar approach" to easing congestion.

Laidlaw's comments come after the Government announced last week that work will soon begin on preserving space for the "mass transit corridor" linking the airport and CBD in New Zealand's largest city.

Laidlaw told The Dominion Post he welcomed the Government's "very substantial step forward" in recognising the importance of options such as light rail in transport planning.

Earlier, in a statement, he said: "This is a signal that mass transit is moving to the top of the agenda for those cities in New Zealand facing challenges of traffic congestion, and looking for solutions that will ensure our cities are liveable, productive and achieve sustained economic growth."

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Laidlaw would not be drawn on which, if any, routes he thought might be suitable for light rail in Wellington.

However, in the statement he was vocal in his support of keeping the option open.

"We see the Auckland decision as one that needs to be applied in Wellington, by adopting a more assertive 'bus priority' approach in the short term, introducing congestion charging and protecting a corridor for light rail in the future."

Light rail will be discussed in workshops with community and business representatives as part of the Let's Get Wellington Moving project – a joint initiative between the regional council, Wellington City Council and the New Zealand Transport Agency to solve congestion between Ngauranga Gorge and the airport.

The announcement of light rail for Auckland, albeit not for 30 years, would be "a shot in the arm" for those discussions, Laidlaw's statement said.

"Auckland is not alone in confronting serious congestion. It is also a rapidly growing problem in Wellington.

"We strongly believe this issue should be addressed now before it gets to the level faced by Auckland when it becomes much more challenging to apply solutions."

Let's Get Wellington Moving programme director Barry Mein said in a statement that mass rapid transit options would be discussed in the workshops.