A tale of two tunnels (the one the Govt helped with went $2b over budget)

PremiumOpinionOpinion byWayne BrownNZ Herald·9 Aug, 2026 05:00 PM6 mins to readWayne Brown has been the Mayor of Auckland since 2022, and was the Mayor of the Far North from 2007-2013.‌Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown (left) and the Minister of Transport Chris Bishop share a laugh about the early release of the City Rail Link opening date. But it seems Brown isn't laughing at the overall cost of the City Rail Link, which he says comes in at around $2 billion over budget. Photo / Michael Craig

Last week’s announcement of an opening date of September 13 for the City Rail Link showed how difficult it is working on big projects with government involvement. As a developer of complex projects like multiplex cinemas, I’m not big on announcements of openings and would have preferred just to have