Five years of failure for light rail

Construction of light rail in Auckland might not begin until 2025 despite tomorrow marking five years since Jacinda Ardern announced it would be delivered to Mt Roskill by 2021, National’s Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says.

“Not only have zero metres of light rail been delivered, but according to tender documents seen by BusinessDesk, a construction contract is unlikely to be signed by 2025.

“This was Jacinda Ardern’s first promise as leader of the Labour Party and the first of many promises that this Government has completely failed to deliver on. 

“The only winners so far are the consultants who have raked in tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. $60 million has been spent on the project so far without a spade even hitting the dirt.

“Meanwhile, Aucklanders suffer the consequences as they remain stuck on congested roads, still waiting on one of Labour’s many fairy tales.

“Come the 2023 election; Labour will have had six years in Government and spent over $130 million on working groups and consultants with nothing to show except press releases and broken promises.

“KiwiBuild might still be the poster child of this Government’s failure to deliver, but light rail certainly holds its own in the long list of Labour’s failures.”