Peter Dunne welcomes joint Wellington rail funding commitment

Ohariu MP and UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne today welcomed the announced central and local government commitment to completing the rebuild of Wellington commuter rail services, saying that it must finally deliver an improved service to long-suffering commuters.

“It is quite simply a necessary and sensible step to secure the future for Wellington rail commuters. I have been pushing this for years, so I am delighted to see this important step forward,” Mr Dunne said.

The package includes a commitment by the Government to fund an $88 million renewal of the rest of the signalling and traction assets on the network, and a commitment by the Greater Wellington Regional Council to takeover and refurbish the 30 year old Ganz Mavag units at a cost of $80 million, which will be supported with an operating subsidy from NZ Transport Agency.

The regional council has already indicated a proposed rate increase to help cover the cost of its commitment.

Mr Dunne said the funding implications for taxpayers and ratepayers were unavoidable, but needed to be kept to a minimum.

“In the end, this is simply a vital infrastructure service for our region and needs to be in place.

“Commuters are living day in, day out with a third rate, inefficient service of constant delays and that cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.

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