But they do not have to take my word for it.
The Greens campaigned for an Auckland-to-Hamilton passenger rail service that Labour agreed to.
In 2023/24 the taxpayer and ratepayer subsidy was estimated at $92 per passenger. Today the lowest advertised bus fare is about $20. A free bus service would have saved money.
Green transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter says:
“These tracks are already there, so we should use them.”
And that is the issue. It is a single-track railway and we already use it.
New Zealand has a freight railway. Ninety-three per cent of the network is single track.
A container does not care if its train waits in a siding for an oncoming train.
Passengers do.
Passenger trains need timetables. They need speed. They get priority.
KiwiRail itself says the single-track limits its capacity.
The Greens propose passenger trains through the Kaimai tunnel on our busiest freight track. Their plan says the line can take a passenger service by “scheduling adjustments for freight”.
In English: stop the freight train and let the passenger train through.
Do that often enough and shippers will send the freight by road.
We would be nuts to spend $4 billion to divert freight from rail to road to create a heavily subsidised passenger rail service.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
Green transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter says:
“These tracks are already there, so we should use them.”
And that is the issue. It is a single-track railway and we already use it.
New Zealand has a freight railway. Ninety-three per cent of the network is single track.
A container does not care if its train waits in a siding for an oncoming train.
Passengers do.
Passenger trains need timetables. They need speed. They get priority.
KiwiRail itself says the single-track limits its capacity.
The Greens propose passenger trains through the Kaimai tunnel on our busiest freight track. Their plan says the line can take a passenger service by “scheduling adjustments for freight”.
In English: stop the freight train and let the passenger train through.
Do that often enough and shippers will send the freight by road.
We would be nuts to spend $4 billion to divert freight from rail to road to create a heavily subsidised passenger rail service.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
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