Onehunga Rail Petition Over 8,000
Organisers call for inclusion in ARTA transport plan
Organisers of a petition to reopen the Onehunga branch railway line have collected over 8,000 signatures and plan on presenting it to the Auckland Regional Council at the end of the month.
Petition organisers the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) say that the response to the petition has been overwhelming. Campaign manager Garth Houltham says "most people have been asking why we need a petition for something so obviously beneficial. Commuters could be in the CBD in just 20 minutes from Onehunga."
Signatures for the petition have been gathered largely from residents and visitors to the Onehunga area.
As well as residents and local businesses, the list of supporters includes former Transport Minister Mark Gosche. The Onehunga line runs through the Maungakiekie MP's electorate and Mr Houltham describes his endorsement of Onehunga rail as "an example of the universal support we have received from all levels of Government." Political support includes the Auckland Regional Council, the board of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA), Auckland City and the Maungakiekie Community Board, who awarded the CBT with a grant to help fund their efforts.
"We can only hope that the political goodwill behind Onehunga rail will make it a reality" says Mr Houltham.
However, despite the popularity of the proposal, the CBT warns that the Onehunga line is not in the Auckland Regional Transport Authority's recently announced plan to boost public transport.
The Convenor of the CBT, Cameron Pitches, says that it is critical that the project is included in the ARTA's Passenger Transport Network Plan, and is "encouraging anyone who wants to see Onehunga rail reopened to make a submission to ARTA, or it won't happen for at least ten years."
The likely cost of reopening the line has been assessed at $6.4m, including the construction of stations at Mt Smart and Onehunga. Mr Pitches says this is "almost trivial and is less than the amount spent on various rail related reports over the years."
As recently as last Christmas trains have been able to use the line at a reduced speed, but a recent directive from Ontrack now prevents the track from being used at all.
"This begs the question what are they planning on doing with it instead? If Transit allowed a major arterial road to degenerate to the point where it was unusable, all hell would break loose. Why is it any different for our rail network?", adds Mr. Pitches.
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