By: Bob Lawton

Bob Lawton — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 06:56:01 +0000

I suspect that David Thornton is voicing the concerns of many and I too am nervous that the rail loop cost will be beyond original estimates. But, let’s assume that the rail loop will last 100 years – we should be able to pay it off in that time with reasonable patronage. Auckland will easily be a population of 5 possibly 10m by 2050 because the hundreds of millions made homeless by sea rise around the world will have to be housed somewhere – many of the them in Godzone. As we have seen from more recent immigrations of asian peoples, they are far more likely to use public transport than Kiwis. Do you know if the current rail loop engineering takes into account a 2m rise in sea level? If we are to spend Millions more on saving our Port (maybe to pay for our rail loop?) to what extent will the rail loop help in the logistics of getting containers to and from the Port to Wiri? And yes, which parts of downtown Auckland would be useable if the sea level rises by 2 meters? Yep, some realistic forward thinking could be really helpful.

By: B

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 06:54:49 +0000

I think David Thornton’s article lacks understanding of the whole issue and seems a bit biased. He hasn’t taken National’s expensive roading projects into account, not only the projects happening in Auckland itself but also Aucklanders are paying for road projects in Wellington.
The scary thing is that this can be done without Aucklanders having their say and we are left with no choice but to go along with the government’s word.
As for Transmission Gully, this will eventually fail one day, if growth in Wellington remains modest that is.

Comments on: No mandate for Central Rail Link spending, says David Thornton

By: Bob Lawton

By: B