KiwiRail benefits New Zealand - Minister Wrong!
PRESS RELEASE SUNDAY Sept 27th 1:30pm

Press release from the Campaign For Better Transport
For immediate release.
Sunday 27th Sept 2009 1:30pm.

The Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce has come out swinging today against Kiwirail, as he says it will loose $1 million per day.

However, the major New Zealand sustainable transport group, the Campaign For Better Transport (CBT) is questioning the Ministers figures, and would like to know just where he got them from?

Jon Reeves, a spokesperson for the CBT said, the Minister does come up with some seriously questionable and rather ridiculous figures. Recently Joyce said KiwiRail was worth around $360 million dollars which we all know is unbelieveable. How much would it cost to build the 9.5 km Kaimai tunnel today? If I was a business owner I certainly would not put Steven Joyce incharge of quotations, Reeves said.

In recent months is has become clear the Minister of Transport is taking every opportunity to attack Kiwirail with quite baseless facts.

The powerful trucking lobby has been working hard on the Minister of Transport, and some unusal right wing groups have been producing reports with unusal facts and figures against Kiwirail. Yet the average Kiwi on the street wants less trucks on the roads, and more freight moved to rail. The Minister is throwing $8.8 billion dollars at roads so trucks can take away rail freight business, but giving Kiwirail only $90 million per year yet it moves over 15% of the countries freight. If anything the Minister is starving development of the nations rail network to the benefit of the private trucking magnates.

The Campaign For Better Transport would like the Minister of Transport like to be honest and tell us where he is getting his "so called facts" from?

ENDS

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