Following on from John Banks’s public support of completing the CBD Rail Tunnel, it’s good to also see Len Brown show his support for this key project:
…it was interesting to see my fellow super-city mayoral contender John Banks proclaiming his enthusiasm for rail and an inner city loop connecting Britomart up with Mt Eden. He’s dead right. And I hope he’s sincere (given his recent comment that “if I wear my policy on my sleeve, I won’t get elected..”)
If so, we might see a genuine Auckland-wide consensus for major public investment into rail. Ensuring Auckland’s rail system gives as many people as possible an alternative option for travelling around the city has to be a major focus for the mayor of the new Auckland super city.
Transport Minister Stephen Joyce says he doesn’t want the new mayor to get carried away with plans for an inner-city rail loop and rail connection to Auckland International Airport. But it’s the mayor’s job to advocate and plan for what is important to Aucklanders – for what supports business by making employees more productive, and supports the community by improving everyone’s quality of life. It’s also the mayor’s job to make that happen.
Last year the Auckland Regional Transport Authority predicted that an inner rail loop, between Britomart and Mt Eden, would make downtown Auckland accessible to 370,000 people by train trips of 30 minutes or less. That’s 370,000 people, from across Auckland, who don’t have to sit for ages in slow-moving traffic just to get to work.
When combined with real travel choices and options, including bus and ferry, the difference that will make to our roads, lives and businesses is something worth working for.
During this campaign, I will advocate for all Auckland to ensure that an integrated, efficient transport system that provides real choice, and enhances all our lives, becomes a top priority in this city and with government.
And if I am elected mayor, I will ensure that we do what is necessary to get Auckland moving.
In all likeliness either John Banks or Len Brown will be the mayor of Auckland from October next year onwards. The mayor will have a lot of power under the system established in creating the Auckland Super City, so it is excellent to see that both the candidates will strongly support this critical project for Auckland.
Speaking of the CBD Rail Tunnel, there’s a quick update of where things are at with regard to this project in the ARC’s Transport and Urban Development Committee’s meeting agenda:
I’m certainly looking forward to seeing more detail on the alignment and station locations.
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Man that was smart by Banks, forced Brown into a corner, now he looks like follower…
Just as a matter of interest, does anyone know where the boring machine from the puhoi tunnel has gone too?
It never had a ‘proper’ tunnel boring machine, just what is known as a road header I think. Those wear out pretty quick. I am not sure whether a TBM will be needed for the CBD rail tunnel.
He supports everything the general public supports. Really big on words, but little action!!! Can pull off a great speech with the words “we” and “community” included to great extents. Has great support from the Polynesian and Maori communities in South Auckland and is very likely to be the next mayor.
I hope all this support for PT is not some political propaganda. I know a couple of people who sent him emails talking about the need for better PT etc, and his replies were something that you would expect from a typical politician…Not very impressive!
I am yet to be convinced by Len Brown. He’s good on the rhetoric but in the end it’s about results results results. And so far he hasn’t shown much in terms of public transport for Manukau City. Not funding the last bit of the Manukau Rail spur so that it went right into the heart of Manukau City Centre wasn’t a good choice.
Absolutely! He is good at saying the things that the public likes to hear, and gives a very PC response to the more difficult issues like PT. I have read continous meessages by people supporting him saying that “you bring communities together” bla bla bla…But what has he really done since he has been in power? You guessed it right, NOTHING! He has not changed anything in Manukau and much of the area remains ugly and soulless. Actually, many areas are falling apart by the seems and getting worse by the day!
His only policy that sets him apart from the others is free pools for kids lol…Though I am yet to be convinced something like that would work for the whole of Auckland.
The free pools are a ridiculous policy and if tried to be implemented Auckland wide will result in many, many letters from me to the herald…
I think it’s a good idea actually – we need to encourage people to learn how to swim to reduce the number of drownings each year. Perhaps there might be a point of targeting those funds into providing kids with free swimming lessons instead though, if that was found to be more effective.
We’ll agree to disagree but the day the council pays my gym membership it can pay to subsidise swimmers (actually the council paying anyone’s gym membership would piss me off too)…