The Campaign For Better Transport

Media Release from the Campaign For Better Transport

A petition calling for the introduction of a commuter rail service between Auckland and Hamilton has gathered nearly 8,000 signatures.

The Campaign for Better Transport wants to present the petition to Hamilton and regional politicians in two weeks time, however campaign organiser Jon Reeves describes the coming weekend as “a sprint to the finish.”

“People from all walks of life have signed the petition so far– business people, students, grandparents, retailers and tourists included,” says Mr. Reeves. “But we really want to demonstrate the strong public support for Waikato rail to Environment Waikato and central Government as emphatically as we can.”

Three quarters of those who have signed to date are from Hamilton and Waikato towns that would be served by a commuter rail service.

Volunteers will be collecting signatures at key Waikato events this weekend, including the Ngaruawahia Regatta and markets and festivals in the Hamilton area.

The cost of establishing a commuter rail service running three times a day between Hamilton and Auckland has been estimated at up to $1m. However, Mr Reeves says required subsidies will decrease over time.

“In comparison with the just announced $168.7m funding package for the Te Rapa section of the Waikato Expressway, the cost of establishing a commuter rail service is minimal and would be a good strategic hedge against rising petrol costs.”

“A rail service makes economic as well as environmental sense as obviously commuters won’t need to fund the ownership and operating costs of a vehicle, and they can make good use of their time with laptops and phones, or by simply relaxing and reading the paper.”

“For once Hamiltonians will have a guaranteed time of arrival into Auckland and be able to connect to the regular airport shuttle buses direct from Papatoetoe station,” concludes Mr Reeves.

The petition can be downloaded from here.

We need your help!

The CBT petition calling on the Govt. and its agencies to immediately fund Waikato commuter trains to Auckland will be presented to MP’s at the end of this month. We have over 6,000 signatures now ( 3,000 collected in just the past 2 weekends). There is huge support for these trains in the Waikato community, we just need to collect more signatures. It would be great if we can get 10,000!

Dowload the petition here.

If you can give just half a day for signature collection, we’ve got the locations for you! Details of how you can help below the fold.

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The Waikato times reports:

Hamilton East MP David Bennett was told to “get real” and “keep it shortish” when he faced a public meeting championing a commuter train between Hamilton and Auckland last night.

The National MP took the brunt of criticism over the Government’s lack of support for the service when he reiterated that the $1 billion Waikato Expressway was his priority and he was “not opposed” to a train service in the long-term.

About 100 people gathered at the meeting at Hamilton City Council, run by Campaign for Better Transport, to show their support for reinstating a commuter train on the main trunk line between Hamilton and Auckland – an initiative which would need between $700,000 and $1 million in Government funding to get it back on track.

The New Zealand Herald reports Hamilton City Council has stated the a three-year proposed trail of Silver Fern railcar services between Hamilton and Auckland would need a subsidy of more than $1 million a year. The council said a subsidy was not affordable and Nigel Parry from KiwiRail said yesterday that the service had to be viable and would not be run at a loss.

Hamilton – Auckland Commuter Trains

• Tuesday, 1st December, 7:30pm
• Hamilton City Council meeting room
• Left side of GARDEN PLACE
• Hamilton Central

Speakers invited:

• MP Sue Moroney ( Labour )
• MP David Bennett (Hamilton East, National )
• MP Tim MacIndoe (Hamilton West, National )
• MP Keith Locke ( Greens )
• Cr. David MacPhearson - Hamilton City Council
• Cr. Norm Barker – EW Chair of the Transport Committee
• Cr. Mike Lee - Auckland Regional Council Chairperson
• Harry Wilson - NZ Transport Agency
• Jon Reeves and Cameron Pitches (Convenor) - Campaign For Better Transport

As covered over at Auckland trains, the MP for Hamilton East, David Bennett, is opposed to the introduction of a regular train service between Auckland and the Waikato.  He is now responding to the postcards being sent to him by saying any potential rail service would have “problems”.

Responding to this, Barry Palmer has prepared the attached letter, which eloquently explains why Mr Bennett is wrong on every count.

What is especially disappointing about Mr Bennett’s attitude to Hamilton rail is that he was a willing recipient of our petition to electrify Auckland’s rail network back in 2007, along with Green Party MP Keith Locke. We thought this marked a sea change National’s thinking towards rail, but clearly we were mistaken.

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Media Release from the Campaign for Better Transport: 05/09/2009 16:16:01

The Campaign For Better Transport’s Hamilton to Auckland commuter train campaign has been so successful, the group have had to order the printing of thousands more of the postcards they are getting people to sign to show their support.

New Zealand’s major sustainable transport lobby group has been inundated with phone calls and emails from the public supporting the call for commuter rail services to be set up between Hamilton and Auckland. CBT spokesman Jon Reeves says the reaction is overwhelming and one thing is clear, New Zealanders want passenger rail services between major cities.

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Media Release from the Campaign for Better Transport: 23 August 2009
  
Yesterday the Campaign For Better Transport (CBT) visited towns in the Waikato asking residents and businesses to show their support for commuter trains to Auckland and they received an overwhelmingly positive response, with over 1,000 postcards signed in just a few hours.
 
Members from the independent transport lobby group Campaign For Better Transport spent several hours yesterday in Huntly, Ngaruawahia, The Base shopping centre in Te Rapa and in Hamilton Central, collecting signatures on postcards which are aimed at making local Hamilton MPs Tim Macindoe and David Bennett, as well as the Minister of Transport Steven Joyce and Prime Minister John Key, aware of the train service the region urgently wants.

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