Save Our Trains media release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday 8 March 2022 Advocates for passenger rail are questioning why services have been dumped while KiwiRail posts healthy and rising surpluses. KiwiRail is aiming for an operating surplus of up to $162 million for the full year to June, representing a big jump from the previous year. Yet the state owned enterprise announced in December 2021 it was withdrawing same day scheduled passenger services on both islands. Save Our Trains spokesperson Dr Paul Callister says there is a severe disconnect between the goals of Government to reduce emissions and the operations of state-owned enterprises such as KiwiRail. Dr Callister says passenger rail is in danger of becoming a lost opportunity in the urgent process of decarbonising transport. He says issues like dumping passenger services are filed away as operational issues for KiwiRail, but need to be policy issues that the Government delivers on. “Passenger rail is not about profit, it’s about providing regular and reliable services that move people off cars and planes, and providing choices for the travelling public.” Dr Callister says upgrades to our national rail network will benefit passengers as well as freight rail transport and is a basic infrastructure requirement for a modern society. The petition to Save Our National Passenger Rail Network reads: We call on the Government and KiwiRail to commit to maintaining existing intercity passenger rail services. Furthermore, we ask for a comprehensive national strategy for future passenger rail services built around concern for accessibility, climate action, and economic development. The petition to Save Our National Passenger Rail Network can be found at: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/saveourtrains ENDS Media Contacts: Victor Billot victor@allrailways.co.nz 022 479 1786 Patrick Rooney patrick@allrailways.co.nz 06 880 0234 or 022 154 9119
Save Our Trains Campaign media release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 16 February 2022 Save The Trains Campaign welcomes KiwiRail’s decision to include a daily Auckland-Wellington service in an upcoming market research survey. But campaigners say New Zealand is still a long way off seeing long distance passenger trains return to the tracks. The Save Our Trains campaign was started in late January by concerned members of the public after KiwiRail’s announcement in December 2021 it was pulling same day scheduled passenger services throughout New Zealand. KiwiRail today sent an email to subscribers raising the possibility of a daily Auckland-Wellington passenger train in addition to multi-day tours and guided tours and packages. KiwiRail plans to send a short questionnaire to everyone who has signed up on their website. Save The Trains Spokesperson Paul Callister says: “Let’s be clear, KiwiRail is merely adding a question to a survey, not promising to return passenger trains to our tracks.” Mr Callister says this is still a sign KiwiRail is reacting to public blowback against their decision, with 5200 people signing the Save Our Trains petition. He says KiwiRail does not currently have enough trains available to offer all the services mentioned in their bulletin. Mr Callister says it now comes down to a battle between tourist-specific services or broader passenger focused services. “We’ll continue to campaign for the return of national passenger rail services for all users”, says Mr Callister. He says the campaign’s other demands are that future passenger rail services are built around concerns for accessibility, regional economic development, and climate action. The Coastal Pacific service in the South Island was not mentioned in the statement by KiwiRail. The petition to Save Our National Passenger Rail Network reads: We call on the Government and KiwiRail to commit to maintaining existing intercity passenger rail services. Furthermore, we ask for a comprehensive national strategy for future passenger rail services built around concern for climate action and economic development. The petition to Save Our National Passenger Rail Network can be found at: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/saveourtrains Media Contacts: Victor Billot victor@allrailways.co.nz 022 479 1786 Patrick Rooney patrick@allrailways.co.nz 06 880 0234 or 022 154 9119
The #SaveOurTrains campaign asking the Government and KiwiRail to back the continuation of axed national passenger rail services continues to grow with more than 4,500 people signing an online petition. The campaign was started by members of the public who were concerned about KiwiRail’s announcement in December to pull out of providing same day scheduled passenger services on both islands. Spokesperson, Michael Nicholson, said: “KiwiRail’s decision decimates the limited national network we had. It leaves us with disconnected urban services and large parts of the country unserved by rail. It just isn’t good enough, especially when the Government talks so much about regional economic development and climate action.” Spokesperson, Paul Callister, said: “We need to make bold decisions around the future of public transport if we’re really serious about making a dent in CO2 emissions. National passenger rail needs to be part of the solution. But it’s also a about creating a service that meets the needs of local communities. The first step is to save what we have.” The petition to Save Our National Passenger Rail Network reads: We call on the Government and KiwiRail to commit to maintaining existing intercity passenger rail services. Furthermore, we ask for a comprehensive national strategy for future passenger rail services built around concern for climate action and economic development. The petition to Save Our National Passenger Rail Network can be found at: https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/saveourtrains Media Contacts: Victor Billot victor@allrailways.co.nz 022 479 1786 Patrick Rooney patrick@allrailways.co.nz 06 880 0234 or 022 154 9119 The recent announcement by KiwiRail that the Northern Explorer and Coastal Pacific services will be replaced with multi-day experiences from July 2022 has been greeted by concern from the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT).
The proposal, dubbed “Project Restart ‘22” would mean the end of regular passenger service on both the Auckland to Wellington and Picton to Christchurch and marks just the latest stage in the decline of what was once an extensive passenger rail service which serviced most of New Zealand. The CBT urges the government to consider a funding package that would enable the continuation of both the Northern Explorer and Coastal Pacific services as daily passenger services able to be used by passengers to get around the various towns and cities along the Auckland to Wellington and Picton to Christchurch corridors. View: Campaign for Better Transport Concerned About Project Restart ‘22 – The Campaign For Better Transport After running for nearly 100 years between Auckland and Wellington train services have been canceled by KiwiRail. Read more at: Urgent calls for long-distance passenger services to stay as KiwiRail cuts operations | Newshub
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