It’s the project Auckland doesn’t want, that the rest of the country doesn't want to pay for. Simply put, the numbers don’t stack up.
The City Rail Link project with only 3.5km of tunnels and no new stations is currently projected to cost $5.5 billion (and counting).
Reality check: The Light Rail project has 13km of tunnelling (four times more than the CRL project) 25km of new track and 18 new stations (half of them underground) and a Mangere harbour crossing.
Auckland Light Rail is trying to sell this proposal to us as only costing $14.6 billion. Seriously? The real cost will be closer to $50 billion.
And these costs don't even include the cost of the required urban redevelopment around the new underground stations to make the choice to tunnel this light rail project even work.
Auckland Light Rail details that its business case is built on supporting a future population fuelled by housing intensification on a single route. ALR claims the project will take a minimum of six to eight years to be operational.
There are better options that can immediately begin to address existing traffic congestion issues and deliver better bang for buck in the future as well.
Liam Venter, Public Transport Enthusiast
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29 May 2023