auckland light rail

The Transport Minister says the Government has other transport plans for Auckland.

It's formally scrapped the $15-billion Auckland Light Rail project after estimates that the cost of the project could blow out to almost $30-billion.

Nearly 230-million-dollars has been spent on it in six years and not a single metre of track's been laid.

Minister Simeon Brown told Tim Dower they need to invest in better rapid bus transit in the city.

He says there's more to deliver - the eastern busway and the north-western rapid transit, which is Auckland's next major priority after the CRL.

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National's transport spokesman has labelled Auckland Light Rail's commercial building purchase 'shocking'.

Auckland Light Rail has signed a $33 million contract to buy the Kiwi Bacon Building, located on New North Road.

That's despite National vowing to scrap the $14.6-billion-dollar project if elected next month.

Simeon Brown says the Government has had six years to deliver and hasn't presented a business case to purchase the building.

"The Government hasn't got a business case, they haven't got a route- yet they've decided to spend $33 million on a commercial property. This is absolutely unbelievable." 

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National's transport spokesman has labelled Auckland Light Rail's commercial building purchase 'shocking'.

Auckland Light Rail has signed a $33 million contract to buy the Kiwi Bacon Building, located on New North Road.

That's despite National vowing to scrap the $14.6-billion-dollar project if elected next month.

Simeon Brown says the Government has had six years to deliver and hasn't presented a business case to purchase the building.

"The Government hasn't got a business case, they haven't got a route- yet they've decided to spend $33 million on a commercial property. This is absolutely unbelievable." 

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There are calls for Auckland Light Rail to be thrown on the scrap heap with Michael Wood.

Following his exit from Cabinet yesterday, demand is growing for Wood's pet project to follow suit.

The project is expected to cost between $7.3 billion and $29.2 billion, however Wood doubted it would reach the upper limit of this range.

Public Transport Users Association national coordinator Jon Reeves says it's dead.

"It's deader than a bunch of dead ducks. It's something no-one wanted apart from Michael Wood and maybe Jacinda Ardern, cause everyone knows it's too expensive."

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Auckland's Light Rail is still in the works, but it could take generations to complete.

The Prime Minister today ditched some transport initiatives, including The Clean Car Upgrade and Social Leasing Car Schemes.

Plans to drop speed limits have also been pulled back to now only affect the most dangerous one percent of our highways.

But Auckland Light Rail will still be rolled out in stages, with the first to be announced mid this year.

Transport Minister Michael Wood says it will be comparable to the Waikato Expressway.

"Now that actually started in the 1990's, and it was done in about ten or eleven stages to make it more manageable in terms of how we deliver it and how we pay for it."

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On today's edition of The Huddle, Chief Executive of Transporting NZ Nick Leggett and Mike Munroe, former Labour Chief of Staff and current director of Mike Munroe Communications joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day: 

How does it reflect on Chris Hipkins to be this misinformed about the proportion of taxes Labour takes out of the economy? Did he handle the miscommunication properly?

The Government is running an inquiry into forestry slash- is Forestry Minister Stuart Nash being strong enough on the issue?

It seems like construction on Auckland's Light Rail is finally beginning today- is this project worth it, or is it all a waste of money from Transport Minister Michael Wood? 

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Today on The Huddle, Wellington ZB host Nick Mills and Jack Tame, host of ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!

What do we think of Saudi Arabia potentially sponsoring the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup? Will Australia and New Zealand's football associations boycott this choice or ignore it by kick-off?

Transport Minister Michael Wood is being vague about Auckland Light Rail- does this mean the project will be scrapped under Hipkins?

Green Party co-leader James Shaw has pulled out of the Wellington Central electoral race, and is backing Wellington City Councillor Tamatha Paul instead. What do we think of this?

Princess Anne is coming to New Zealand later this month- are we looking forward to this?

Tom Jones hit 'Delilah' will not be performed at the Welsh Six Nations rugby tournament due to sexism concerns. Is this justified?

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