Some good news from The Manawatu Standard:
Palmerston Nroth MP Iain Lees-Galloway says the Capital Connection railway link has received a stay of execution.
However, KiwiRail is denying any firm commitments have been made about the service’s future.
The fate of the Stratford to Okahukura line is up in the air. Our submission to KiwiRail explaining why it should stay open is here:
First Wiri, now Hamilton – The Waikato Times reports local iwi Tainui are planning an inland port, served by both rail and road connections:
A port operator has yet to be tapped on the shoulder, but TGH has had discussions with Transit New Zealand and KiwiRail, says chief executive Mike Pohio.
This is good news for Hamilton, and motorists in the Auckland / Waikato / Bay of Plenty regions. Inland ports, served by container trains, take numerous truck movements off the roads, decreasing the environmental impact of transport and extending the life of the road.
Late last year the Auckland Transport Authority (now called Auckland Transport) structure was announced. Most alarming was the “Major Roading Projects” department, with no equivalent department for public transport infrastructure.
It seems the Transition Authority have recognised this, and the title has been changed to “Major Projects and PMO”. The explanation given is “Not all major projects will be roading, and the PMO will be an important part of this group.” Hard to understand why this obvious shortcoming wasn’t spotted sooner!
The new organisational chart is below. Click the image for a larger version.
The Campaign For Better Transport is calling on the Government to urgently reopen a direct rail link to the Taranaki region.
The 143km rail link runs from Stratford to Okahukura, near Taumaruni and has been mothballed since the end of last year following a number of derailments. As a result, Fonterra milk products now travel 200km further between Taranaki and the Port of Tauranga.
Spokesperson for the Campaign for Better Transport, Cameron Pitches, says it is vital the link is reopened.
“It would be incredibly short-sighted to close it. This rail link is a the only alternative route between Auckland and Wellington for the main trunk line. If there is a washout or a volcanic event, rail freight between these two cities will be stuck,” said Mr Pitches.
Submissions close tomorrow for the Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill.
The CBT is very concerned that the current structure of the Bill will transfer much of the power over transport in Auckland away from elected local and regional politicians, towards unelected transport officials and central government.
Our full submission is here, and the summary is below the fold…
ARTA have announced the anticipated fare increase for all public transport services, effective 21st February 2010. From their media release :
ARTA’s Chief Executive, Fergus Gammie said, ”ARTA and its operators have held public transport fares in Auckland for three years in an environment in which other centres in New Zealand have increased their fares to recoup costs. Fares have been held to encourage transport patronage in Auckland and also in acknowledgement of difficult economic times.
“However, over the last three years the costs associated with running transport fleets have increased by around 11%. For example changing emission standards requiring improved vehicles and increased labour costs have been absorbed by our operators for a long period now, therefore bus, train and some ferry fares will increase from Sunday 21 February to help recoup these costs and hold service levels for our customers”.
It isn’t clear how much of the fare increase will go to the operators and how much will go to the ratepayer, or specifically what the fare increases are for the different modes and ticket types, but this is due to be revealed shortly.
Update: New bus fares are here.
We’ve got our hands on a copy of the BCR study funded by the NZTA and others. BCRs continue to be a contentious issue for the evaluation of transportation projects. They are intended to be a tool to help evaluate similar projects, but invariably they are used by commentators on both sides to indicate the outright justification for a project (or not, as the case may be.)
I haven’t had a chance to read through all 156 pages of the document yet (full title “The Implications of Discount Rate Reductions on Transport Investments and Sustainable Transport Futures”) but will do so when I have time.
It will be interesting to see how independent the research is, given the funders are Roading New Zealand, Downer EDI Works and the NZTA. Have a look for yourself, here:
Join the conversation at the CBT online forum.