Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre

Gisborne rail had increased freight demand by 21st December 2011 forcing the East Coast Kiwi Rail Manager to advise the committee at HB Regional Council Land Transport that “Gisborne rail at risk of closure can’t cope with increased freight demand and needing more ‘locomotives wagons and staff’.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6170794/At-risk-rail-line-can-t-cope-with-demand

“A rail line under threat of closure is dealing with more demand than it can cope with.

KiwiRail is contemplating mothballing or closing the Gisborne-Napier line, with a decision set for late next year.

But in a briefing to the Hawke's Bay regional transport committee yesterday, a KiwiRail executive said demand from Gisborne had increased. Hawke's Bay manager Kim Salter said four extra weekly services would start next month and another potentially large customer had been turned away because of a lack of equipment and crews”.

Several CEAC members witnessed this event in person on that day, as the National Government were threatening the closure of four “marginal” regional rail services at the hands of Steven Joyce Minister of Transport policy called “Kiwi Rail 10yr turnaround plan”.

Now we are in June 2020, and last week in Parliament on Thursday 4th June 2020 during the second reading of the ‘LAND TRANSPORT (RAIL) LEGISLATION BILL’ we witnessed another un-believable statement from ‘National’s Spokesperson on Transport’ Chris Bishop as he was ‘railroading us’ into believing that the $6 million spent by the Labour coalition Government was a waste of money ‘as only one train went from Wairoa to Napier’.

Chris Bishop must be correctly advised from us who live there, that it was Covid 19 that actually stopped any further trains when the Lockdown was placed on us all, - and ironically it came again just after trains had begun to run on that line for the fist time in over 7 yrs, as NZ First MP Ron Mark dismissed correctly Chris Bishop’s inaccurate comments, as later did Green Party MP Gareth Hughes.

So once again our remote region of HB/Gisborne rail services are being threatened by National’s campaign of false information campaign to railroad us into believing rail is a waste of money – this time by Chris Bishop.

CEAC now say; - National Party it’s time for this anti-rail campaign to end, and we ask you to support the new funding for rail under the final reading of LAND TRANSPORT (RAIL) LEGISLATION BILL’ again, for our communities collective health, wealth’ and well-being’ and regional demand for rail services demonstrated by increased support and the growing business activities and freight demand being placed on rail services.

END.

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