Transport Minister Phil Twyford says light rail on the way, but Winston Peters disagrees

Tuesday, 26 May 2020

Work has started on the southern-most part of the City Rail Link project at Mt Eden earlier this year, marked by Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, CRL CEO Sean Sweeney and Transport Minister Phil Twyford.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford says Auckland's long-awaited light rail programme will be heading to Cabinet shortly.

But it might not leave the meeting with the Cabinet's seal of approval after comments from Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said his position is that the project is 'suspended'.

Labour had promised to build the first section of light rail between Britomart and Mt Roskill by 2021.

An artist impression of the Auckland Light Rail trains en route to the Airport.

Instead, after a protracted process that's stretched out for the entire Parliamentary term, the Government still hasn't decided on who will build the scheme.

* Jacinda Ardern briefed: light rail could be 'construction ready' by 2020

* Simon Bridges promises to axe Super Fund light rail project

Transport Minister Phil Twyford said light rail will be going to Cabinet soon.

Twyford told media on Tuesday light rail would be going to Cabinet 'shortly'.

Currently, the Government is weighing up whether NZTA, the Government's big transport infrastructure agency will build the scheme, or whether it will be outsourced to NZ Infra, a joint-venture between the NZ Super Fund and CDPQ Infra, part of a Canadian pension fund.

Twyford said he had not yet decided which bid he preferred.

'Advice is going up to Cabinet with options,' he said.

Twyford said he didn't want to put a timeline on how soon construction could start after Cabinet had made a decision.

But it appears the major obstacle to construction is Cabinet itself, with Labour's coalition partner NZ First saying the project is 'suspended'.

Twyford refused to say whether NZ First was on board with the project, though he said he had spoken with the party.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says light rail is 'suspended'.

'You'll have to ask them that,' Twyford said.

'It's your job to ask them, its not my job to tell you what their position is,' Tywford said.

Stuff asked Peters for his party's position on light rail.

'It's not an issue with us, because it's not going to happen in the immediate term,' Peters said.

'Light rail is a plan that the costs have blown out massively for,' he said.

'We've always been for heavy rail in this country. Our programme is on target, as you know, and light rail has been suspended for planning in the immediate future'.

Peters said he'd recently talked to Twyford about the matter.

'I've made my views very clear a long way back,' he said.

Under questioning by National Transport Spokesperson Chris Bishop, Twyford said Cabinet had not considered light rail since 4 June, 2019.

Bishop later said that Twyford should not be outsourcing Cabinet consultation to media.

“It’s staggering that Phil Twyford thinks it's the role of journalists to consult his cabinet colleagues - this sort of mess is just emblematic of the debacle that is light rail,' Bishop said.