14/11/06

Rail Petition on Track for Regional Council

The Transport Action Group’s petition containing nearly 3,500 signatures will be taken by train to the Greater Wellington Regional Council on Thursday morning.

Kapiti Cr Alan Tristram, TAG chairperson , says the group will present the petition at a meeting of the Passenger Transport Committee (11am, November 16, GWRC building, Wakefield Street, Wellington).

The Petition, “We Pay the Fares! Give Us a Fair Deal!” calls on the Regional Council to urgently fund increased capacity on the region’s trains – or get more funding from the Government.

It also asks the GWRC to abandon suggested plans to acme seats out of carriages to increase standing capacity.

Cr Tristram says TAG members have each spoken to hundreds of commuters during early-morning visits to commuter stations.

“Not one person I spoke to wants seats ripped out of carriages,” he says.

“The universal complaint is about late trains. People say they can’t get to work on time, and they can never guarantee being at a meeting on time because the system is so unreliable,” Cr Tristram says.

Councillor Tristram and TAG member Lyndy McIntyre, say the Regional Council must take action now to refurbish some existing carriages and get them on the tracks – as well as increasing the number of brand-new carriages promised for the future from the current 58 budgeted for.

They say it is simply unacceptable for politicians to argue that nothing can be done now to improve the service.

“Global Warming is the number one political issue. The Prime Minister has indicated how important public transport is in reducing carbon emissions. Now it’s time for the Regional Council, Toll and Trans Metro to get their act into gear,” Cr Tristram says.

ENDS

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