September 17, 2008

Media Release (For Immediate Release)

Mayor Wants ‘Please Explain’

Mayor Bob Harvey has called the region’s rail service providers to task over recent disruptions to the service.

In recent days thousands of commuters have had to wait for up to two hours during peak times.

Today the Waitakere Mayor wrote to Ontrack and the Auckland Regional Transport Authority calling on them to attend his Council’s next full meeting (on September 24).

“Basically it’s a ‘please explain’ meeting,” he says.

“I’ve received dozens of phone calls from irate commuters who say they won’t ever use the rail service again. And who can blame them? It seems that every month there is a breakdown of some sort. Rail is becoming a sad joke, rather than the world-class passenger transport service that it should be.”

Mayor Harvey says he and his Council will be asking the “hard questions” of those in charge of running the service.

“In the end we will be seeking an assurance that these sorts of things are rare and unavoidable, rather than the regular, unexplained, balls ups that they appear.”

ENDS

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