Central Govt can fund smart rail projects

Central government can fund the smart rail projects that Aucklanders are calling out for by simply shifting money from uneconomic motorway projects, said the Green Party today.

Following the weekend’s election of an Auckland Council that supports public transport ahead of new motorways, Prime Minister John Key indicated that the Government will not be fully funding rail projects as they do new motorways.

Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman said in response: “Central government is spending billions to fully fund motorway projects that Aucklanders don’t want. We can afford a decent rail system by simply transferring funding from motorways to rail.

“How can you justify spending over $2 billion on the Puhoi to Wellsford Holiday Highway, which is uneconomic, when Auckland desperately needs smart rail and bus projects to reduce congestion and oil dependence?

“Puhoi to Wellsford will be paid for by the fuel taxes of Aucklanders sitting on congested roads every day, because they don’t have smart transport options like better trains and buses.

“The Waterview connection is another example of a waste of at least $2 billion on a white elephant that is left over from the 1950s,” said Dr Norman.

“Pouring billions of dollars into a few kilometres of motorway and destroying a well-established community will do far less to reduce congestion than the CBD Rail Loop and rail to the airport, so why wouldn’t you do the Rail Loop first?

“The CBD Rail loop can move the equivalent of 10 motorway lanes of traffic into the city at peak hour, with no need for parking facilities in town.

Former Auckland mayor and newly elected councillor Christine Fletcher said yesterday that all of the elected councillors would support Mayor-elect Len Brown's bid for the CBD Rail Loop.

Dr. Norman said, “A number of recent polls have confirmed that Aucklanders think train and bus solutions are the smartest way to deal with our transport woes, and that is clear from the result of the Super City elections.

“So the Government cannot keep claiming that Kiwis would prefer to use their cars as if that were somehow an economic argument for new motorways.

“Aucklanders have spoken; they need rail now, and it’s entirely within the power of the Government to fund smart transport projects in our largest city to deliver real prosperity to the whole country,” said Dr Norman.


Link to article about recent Auckland transport poll results:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/auckland-regional-transport-authority/news/article.cfm?o_id=382&objectid=10673755