The Government can’t quite say “we’d like to build this, we don’t want to build that”. Ross Giblin/Stuff National transport spokesperson Chris Bishop wants to reallocate spending that was cut from the state highway budget. After Phil Twyford’s attempt to build light rail stalled, NZTA pulled $313m earmarked for that project in the NLTP and spent it on others – including the Manawatū Gorge replacement. Her favoured light rail model would mean buses coming from Dominion Road would be replaced by light rail, freeing up bus capacity in the city. A glance at Labour’s 2017 election manifesto shows its flagship policy, light rail, was also uncosted, despite a commitment to set to work immediately.

Source: Stuff July 28, 2020 07:41 UTC