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by Julie Anne Genter
I rushed out of parliament at 4.15 yesterday to catch a train to Carterton on the Wairarapa line, to chair and speak at a meeting last night.
Fantastic service. Seats totally full on an (at least) 8 car train. It was quiet, smooth, and allowed me to get a lot of work done. A relaxing journey.
This morning I got to the Carterton station just before 7am. It was cold and raining. Three minutes before the train was due to arrive, the screen said the service was cancelled, due to a mechanical fault.
There was a rumour there could be bus replacements from Featherston – a 20 minute drive away. With two other passengers who had been waiting, I got a lift from a Green Party member in an EV who had offered to drop me at the station.
Heaps of people at Featherston waiting – some got in cars to leave when the cancellation notice was clear. Still raining. Eventually a bus turned up about 20 minutes later than the scheduled train service.
It’s a relative nice coach but it smells of diesel. It’s loud. It’s twisting and turning on the road – I can’t really work due to motion sickness. It is not a relaxing journey, but at least I don’t have focus on driving.
When we get over the hill, we are stuck in traffic.
The business case for buying new trains for the entire lower North Island (Kapiti, Palmerston North and Wairarapa lines) is already done but it’s been several years and the Labour Government is still dragging its heels.
Government will fully fund a motorway with a business case that does not stack up. But they won’t even meet the councils halfway for the trains that are desperately needed for a safe, reliable service to continue.
The trains benefit the rail passengers AND also the roads because they take cars and buses off the roads.
These are a popular, well-used service even when they are infrequent and unreliable. Imagine how popular they could be if they were more frequent and reliable!
There are a lot of myths out that about why we can’t have trains and they were seeded last century by the car and oil industry. It’s BS.
We can have a reliable, frequent, train service.
The Government MUST fund the Lower North Island train proposal in this budget!
[First published as tweets]
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