Labour’s transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere says the Government’s National Land Transport Programme (NLTF) fails to deliver for rail freight which would take more trucks off our roads – concerns echoed by the rail union.
Out of the $32.9 billion transport plan over the next three years, $1b has been allocated for rail – down from $1.3b in the last plan.
“I would have liked to see increased investment in rail including freight and passenger services across New Zealand,” Utikere says.
“Taking trucks off our roads is what will permanently fix the pothole problem, not some arbitrary fund that will only result in more patch-up jobs and road cones.
“The National Government has cancelled rail-enabled ferries – a vital transport link – and is heaping costs on drivers with increased licencing fees, a driver’s tax of $50 and a planned double-digit fuel excise increase of 12c per litre from 2027.
“This roads announcement doesn’t come close to patching that up,” Utikere says.
However, the opposition party did see some positives in the transport plan for some roading infrastructure.
“We too want to build the infrastructure our country needs, and that includes roads – like the vital link replacing the Manawatū Gorge,” Utikere says.
“I’m pleased to see the Pages Road Bridge in Christchurch on that list, which Labour has been campaigning for locally, as well as projects that Labour had committed to such as the Hope bypass, the Christchurch Northern Link, Napier to Hastings and Tauranga to Tauriko.
“But they’ve halved the budget that makes it easier to walk and cycle in our cities, which is disappointing and short-sighted. The traffic problems in Auckland aren’t going to be solved with more roads. Where is the ambition for our biggest city?” he says.
‘Running rail into the ground’
The Rail and Maritime Transport Union says cutting $300 million from rail investment to spend on roads is all about benefit trucking.
Union general secretary Todd Valster says the shift from rail to road shows a lack of strategy and concern about the future of New Zealand.
“First this Government spent a billion dollars on cancelling rail-enabled ferries that are vital to our rail network, and now they are cutting another $300 million of rail investment to fund roads.
“Let’s be clear, both these policies are about running rail into the ground in favour of trucking. That spells disaster for congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and for New Zealand’s freight customers.”
Valster says the NLTF is using billions of taxpayer dollars to further subsidise private freight trucking firms while ignoring rail’s role in the freight market.
He says moving investment away from rail will reduce competition and leave businesses that rely on domestic freight, and their customers, paying more.
“It will also make it harder for exporters to reduce the carbon footprint of their products – something that is becoming increasingly important to retaining international buyers. Rail freight has 70% fewer emissions per tonne than road freight.
“At a time when every other nation in the world is looking at how to shift freight from roads onto safer and cleaner modes of transport, this government’s retrograde anti-rail approach is laying the groundwork for a generation of economic failure,” Valster says.
