The National Party is slamming the Government’s proposed new $14.6 billion light rail network as “economic lunacy”.
A tunnelled light rail network from Auckalnd’s city centre to the airport has been presented as the preferred option in a new push to get the major project back on track.
The findings represent the recommendations of the Auckland Light Rail Establishment Unit which was set up by the Government in April this year following the canning of the earlier light rail project in 2020.
Opposition leader Judith Collins says the proposed $14b project “is an astronomical amount for a tram that will be slower than the Sky Bus was”.
“It is hardly a compelling case for improvement to Auckland’s transport system especially when years of interruption to businesses and roads are factored in.
“This would be by far our biggest ever infrastructure investment and for what? A leisurely trundle up Dominion Road,” she says.
National’s transport spokesperson David Bennett says the cost represents $600 per millimetre of track or over $600 million per kilometre.
“It is more expensive than the price of a new Auckland Harbour crossing or the Roads of National Significance and it is double the entire NZ Upgrade Package.
“It is enough taxpayer money to build 28 Christchurch hospitals or over a thousand schools.
“The $14 billion is only an estimate at this stage and no doubt will go higher effectively sucking up a decade of transport investment on a project that will do little to help our country.
“Now is the time to be strategic. There is so much more that could be achieved with such an astronomical sum. New Zealand needs infrastructure, but the slow tram is not it,” Bennett says.
