Wayne Brown wants council to wrest control of Auckland motorways and rail

Mayor Wayne Brown is gunning for his city’s entire motorway network and rail system just weeks after forcing Auckland Transport back into council hands. 

Brown has today released his Manifesto 2026 just nine days out from the general election. 

The City Rail Link (CRL) has transformed Auckland’s rail network but the city’s transport challenges have not disappeared, Brown’s document said. 

Auckland was poised to have two million people and needed to tackle congestion and boost public transport to move people and goods efficiently across the city. 

However, the current cost of transport governance was stalling real progress, Brown wrote. 

To avoid the mistakes of the past, Auckland’s transport network needed a “single point of control” to improve standardisation and value for money, and prevent costly roading projects being foisted on the city “for little benefit to Auckland”. 

“This means one agency – Auckland Council – being responsible for running our region’s entire road and rail network, guided by the agreed 30-year plan. It is the obvious next step for transport reform in Auckland.” 

Brown said his expectation for a future government was to progressively shift control of state highways and the rail network to Auckland Council. 

Other expectations included: 

• Committing to investment that made the most of the CRL by funding new trains, station upgrades and level crossing removals. 
• Working with Auckland Council, “not against us”, on key infrastructure decisions and not progressing “government mega projects” without proper consultation. 
• Reviewing KiwiRail track access charges, which were now costing the council nearly $100 million a year. 
• Progressing a Time of Use Charging scheme for Auckland to tackle chronic congestion. 

Security staff at Te Waihorotiu Station on the City Rail Link. Photo / Corey Fleming 

As revealed by the Herald this morning, a new primary school for Auckland’s city centre is also being proposed by Brown as part of his ambitions for 100,000 more residents living in town. 

Brown’s manifesto and desire to take control of the city’s road and rail network comes just weeks after the council stripped Auckland Transport of its core policy, planning and road control functions. 

The council-controlled organisation has been reconfigured into a smaller agency which is now responsible for public transport. 

While transport is a key focus in Brown’s manifesto, the document also canvasses other priorities for the city. 

Supporting growth “in the right places” is also highlighted. Brown said housing development needed to be targeted where necessary infrastructure and transport connections already existed – not “sprawling endlessly into paddocks and productive rural land”. 

This appears to be a dig at recent out-of-sequence developments submitted or approved under the controversial fast-track legislation. 

“If the city continues to sprawl, we will lock in low levels of productivity, disconnected communities, more pressure on infrastructure and slower economic growth. That is not the kind of Auckland I want us to build for future generations. 

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. 

“Aucklanders, not Wellington politicians or bureaucrats, should plan what kind of city we want, and any future government must commit to ending the constant cycle of plan changes we have been subjected to in recent years.” 

Brown wanted Wellington to butt out of Auckland’s spatial planning, which he said had created uncertainty and concern. 

He also called for developers to pay their share of infrastructure costs rather than ratepayers and taxpayers being forced to foot the bill. 

“Put simply, if a development cannot pay for the roads, pipes, schools and transport it requires, then it is not economical and shouldn’t proceed.” 

He called on a future government to commit to removing greenfield housing developments from the fast-track system, and to match Auckland’s commitment “dollar-for-dollar to assemble land in priority areas like Maungawhau to Morningside and the city centre. 

Other priorities included committing to Brown’s tourism funding charter for a visitor levy or tourism dividend, enabling councils to fairly rate short-term accommodation like Airbnbs, and reviewing “draconian visa and migration settings that acted as barriers to visitors and talent”. 

He called on the Government to sort out Fire and Emergency and “overzealous” fire safety rules, fix the Dog Control Act to help Auckland manage roaming dogs and remove the exemption from government properties paying rates. 

Brown is unveiling his manifesto at an event in Auckland this morning. 

Lane Nichols is Auckland Desk Editor and a senior journalist for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.