Even Greens guilty of myopic rail thinking
‘‘A nationwide intercity rapid rail programme that would bring our provincial centres and biggest cities closer together through fast, electric passenger rail’’.
That was Green Party Transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter, speaking on April 19, about the Green Party’s proposal that fast intercity rail improvements, as climatefriendly, jobcreating projects, should be prioritised for postCovid19 economic stimulus investment.
Sounds sensible, doesn’t it? Surely anyone with even a smattering of understanding of global warming and the stark need for massive reduction in carbon emissions would agree that a switch from building yet more motorways to reestablishing a ‘‘nationwide rail programme’’ is a nobrainer — and it’s said to create more jobs than motorway construction.
But ‘‘nationwide’’? Hardly.
Their plan suggests fast, electric passenger, and, over time, freight, services connecting Hamilton, Tauranga, and eventually Whangarei, to Auckland; Masterton, Palmerston North, and eventually Whanganui to Wellington; and Rangiora, Ashburton (hardly cities), and eventually Timaru, to Christchurch. That’s a very selective view of the nation — significant chunks of it, including those parts of Te Wai Pounamu north of Rangiora and south of Timaru, seem not to register on the Greens’ map of New Zealand.
As well as electrification, Stage 1 proposes improvements to the existing track to allow speeds up to 110kmh. Stage 2 would involve building new, faster, more directly routed track to allow ‘‘tilttrains’’, travelling at up to 160kmh.
The initial routes proposed suggest that the Greens are primarily interested in commuters, but there’s no obvious recognition, despite the plan’s presentation in relation to recovery from the Covid19 lockdown, of the likely changes in work habits following the widespread experience of working from home during the lockdown, which may significantly reduce commuting.
And there’s no mention of longer distance rail travel. As a university student Civis normally travelled from Blenheim to Dunedin, and back, by rail (between Nelson and Blenheim it was the ‘‘notional railway’’ bus), as did many others. More recently Civis has taken advantage of fast longdistance rail travel in Europe (ParisLyon in less than 2 hours), and even in the United Kingdom 30 years ago, with no highspeed trains, travelled between the centres of London and Edinburgh in four hours — a simpler and more relaxing way to travel than the hassles and time to get out to, and in from, airports when going by air.
But KiwiRail seems to believe that the only future for passenger rail traffic, other than commuting in Auckland and Wellington, is tourism, and then only between Auckland and Wellington, Picton and Christchurch, and Christchurch and Greymouth.
The Greens appear to have bought in to that mindset, and assumed that only the three main population centres matter. But efficient intercity rail passenger services are needed, over at least the length (and, hopefully, the breadth) of the country. In the South Island, that means making proper use, as in the past, of the line from Picton to Bluff. It appears, though, that, for the Greens, nothing south of Timaru is worthy of consideration.
Reinstatement of the main trunk passenger service between Picton and Invercargill could make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions from cars (and pressure on roads), electrification would reduce emissions further, and upgrading of comfort and onboard passenger facilities (dining facilities rather than the old 20minute stops at some stations to push through crowds for tea and railway pies) would reduce transit time even before achieving faster speeds, helping to attract passengers, especially those in Civis’ age bracket, who find long distance driving tiring, and, eventually, tourists.
The Greens need to think for all New Zealand. Could Dunedin’s Green Mayor perhaps make them see sense?
And, thinking about rail, why can’t Dunedin Railways, bereft of cruise ship passengers and other tourists, rather than weakly mothballing its operations, talk with the DCC, the
ORC, and Kiwirail about reestablishing Dunedin rail commuter services from Mosgiel and Port Chalmers (New Zealand’s first nationalgauge line), abolished by NZ Railways’ bottomliners in 1979?