Commuter rail campaigner and Kāpiti Coast District councillor Gwynn Compton has slated Budget 2022 as a failure for its lack of any investment in extending Wellington’s metropolitan commuter rail network north of Waikanae.

“The Government has talked up Budget 2022 as building a high wage, low emissions economy, yet they’ve failed to invest in the very public transport infrastructure - extending commuter rail services throughout Kāpiti and Horowhenua - that is critical for achieving those aims,” says Mr Compton.

“With transport being one of Aotearoa’s fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern having both called climate change our generations’ “nuclear free” moment and declared a climate emergency, the Government’s lack of funding for commuter rail in Budget 2022 is simply inexcusable.”

Mr Compton also highlighted that the flow on effects from failing to fund the extension of commuter rail will go well beyond climate change.

“For communities such as Ōtaki and Levin, access to fast, frequent, and reliable public transport via commuter rail connections to Wellington and Palmerston North would play a pivotal role in helping address many of the social and economic challenges they face through providing easy access to health, education, and employment opportunities.

“Likewise, the very urban intensification in Ōtaki and Levin that’s needed to help fix the housing crisis is dependent on having mass rapid transit services provided by commuter rail to support it. The Government’s failure to invest in this now risks derailing attempts to address the housing crisis too.”

Gwynn Compton has been campaigning for the extension of commuter rail services north of Waikanae since 2019, and in 2020 launched the Kāpiti-Horowhenua Commuter Rail Campaign to further this week. The opinions detailed here are his personal views and are not necessarily those of the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

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