Good news for Wellington metro rail users
10 March 2011

I welcome the announcement of the central and local government commitment to complete the rebuild of Wellington commuter rail services, however 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.

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.

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.