Last year I wrote that the proposed $14 billion Auckland Light Rail project was a Harry Potter fantasy.
Why? Because politicians love the allure of trains. Our new Prime Minister has confirmed it, with the light rail link surviving the Government’s policy cull, at least as it was announced earlier this month.
For voters, trains are an easy sell too. They’re the aspirational form of public transport, and because new rail projects take so long to build, voters get to pretend that someone else will pay for it.
But let’s look at the numbers, especially in the light of the recent floods and cyclone, which highlight that we are going to face vast bills to fix, never mind future-proof, vital infrastructure across the North Island.
