Subscribe to RSSJoyce Excited About Auck Transport
Transport minister Steven Joyce opened the Onehunga train station and re-activated line today and spelt out his transport policy principles and how excited he is about the new Auckland Transport CCO.
He said as an Aucklander, he was aware of the importance of transport links in the city but there was limited money available for infrastructure.
He was confident the new Auckland Transport CCO body would sort it out for Auckland’s good.
Earlier speakers had talked about Auckland’s rail renaissance and how public transport use was growing fast.
ONEHUNGA OPENING: FULL COVERAGE CONTINUES
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Steven Joyce speech
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35 take first trip into Britomart on Sunday- photos
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Historic photos along the fenceline a nice touch
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9 Comments
I feel a bit sorry for Mr Joyce, as it must be difficult to come up with fresh speeches when you have to attend new station openings so often.
It does sound to me that mr Joyce is starting to come around to the idea the commuter rail is economically beneficial, and that big investment in it is crucial for it’s success. Still yet to see him put some money where his mouth is - hopefully theres a real push for the CBD loop when the new council starts, armed with a great business case for it!
Sam, Joyce has already (just a few days ago) said the CBD tunnel won’t happen before 2027. At least not under him. We should not kid ourselves with SJ.
@ Sam
Perhaps Key has already decided but they are holding off the announcement so it can be used as an election promise.
I noticed he was making changes to his speech as Mike Lee was talking.
I was hoping he might have got caught away with the excitement of the moment and make a surprise announcement about a CBD rail loop!! LOL
Jon, perhaps we will have to wait till the official New Lynn opening
dreams are free
Karl - I think with pressure that timeframe will change.
Scott - I think that is what will happen, the business case will come out soon but Joyce will say we have to wait for the study to be fully completed to make a decision (which is in December). By that time it is close to the end of the year so it will be a few months before anything gets decided by which time election talk will start to surface and I think it will get caught up in that.
I do think that Joyce has moved a bit in his time as minister towards seeing the value in PT, but the problem is that he comes from such an extreme roads only position that his idea of a balanced system is still so thoroughly road focussed that in practical terms it still means no new projects or funding under him. All of the spending he mentioned was committed under the previous government including the electrification for which he removed its own dedicated funding source. And he never misses a chance to say that the cupboard is bare. He will certainly get through his first term without committing to anything new, and don’t count on any election promises…. still if that is the case it will certainly offer people like Jacinta Adherne in AK Central a bit visible point of difference to Nicky Kaye… could get interesting especially as the public do seem to be so ahead of our masters on this…. Either way it would be great to even get one of the main parties to campaign on properly rebalancing AK transit, and a big change from a few years ago.
I hope Mr Joyce can maintain that excitement.
I wouldn’t be surprised if after the CBD Study comes out, National including SJ will use the project as a election issue so they can be re-elected. They are completing project very quickly at the moment so need to save some projects for votes.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if SJ has already decided as he mentioned before and wont start for another 10years. But the election pressure will tell.