The government has officially cancelled auckland's light rail project, fulfilling a campaign 100-day plan promise to use the funds for different transportation projects.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the project would have cost taxpayers $15 billion, with advice showing the cost could increase to $29.2 billion.
“The previous government committed to building light rail to Mt Roskill within four years of being elected,” Brown said.
“After six years and over $228 million spent on the project, not a single metre of track has been delivered and congestion has only worsened in the city.
Arguably this was labour's biggest failure, even larger than kiwibuild. It was Jacinda's first promise – light rail would be up and going by the end of 2021. Instead they spent $228 million on consultants, which is a staggering amount. If you assume $2,000 a day consultancy rate then they paid for 114,000 days of consultants.
There was a real cost to all this. The western busway was done for $100 million. All that money wasted for nothing.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
2 comments:
I think you have got it all wrong. They didn’t cancel the project for the cost or delay but because no allowance was made to grow “green “ cabbage’s between the railway lines. No cabbage’s, chop no railway.
Just like Kiwibuild, LGWM, the bike bridge, 3/5 Waters, split Health, Te Pukenga, and the ferries debacles etc etc, millions upon millions totalling billions all pee'd away and for the achievement of what? Rampant inflation and racial division. Yet Labour still can't seem to understand why they lost the election, and too many fools still support them.
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