Budget boost means time to look at electricpowered rail future

WITHIN the 2020 Budget, KiwiRail was allocated $400 million for new Cook Strait ferries with a further $421 million earmarked for the replacement of older locomotives.

If the focus of this postCovid19 Budget is to create new jobs, perhaps spending all this money offshore misses that aim.

The option of electrifying the main trunk line would not only generate these jobs within all regions, but would also align a little closer to the Government’s own environmental policies and stated goals.

Replacing older locomotives with dieselelectro powered units does little to help meet the Government’s emission targets. However, making the bold decision for a future of total electrification would mean any replacement locomotives should now be ordered as fully electricpowered units.

This is the time for a complete review of our rail network, and until then, we should be putting the purchasing of these dieselelectro locomotives on hold.

Included in this review should be the role that Dunedin’s promised refurbished Hillside workshops (with a proud history in railway manufacturing) will play in any future KiwiRail upgrades.

Retaining as much as possible of our rail network manufacturing needs within New Zealand will obviously create many of the much needed new jobs the Government is seeking. Graham Dickson

Kew

I AGREE with Michael Woodhouse (ODT, 16.5.20).

KiwiRail should be using some of its $410 million capital expenditure allocated in the Budget at Hillside workshops.

What was conspicuously missing in Mr Woodhouse’s outburst was a mea culpa for being part of a government that shut Hillside down in the first place. Who can forget the cheap, asbestoslined carriages that were subsequently imported from China?

The $20 million allocated to Hillside from the Provincial Growth Fund has breathed new life in this iconic facility so that it is once again servicing locomotives, building rolling stock and providing skilled heavy engineering jobs in South

Dunedin.

The Government’s commitment to rejuvenating our rail network will see Hillside reclaim its rightful position as a major driver of Dunedin’s economic future.

Mark Patterson New Zealand First list MP

Bird watching

CONGRATULATIONS to The Weekend Mix (ODT, 16.5.20) on the excellent bird guide on page 3. Barbara Weavers

Mornington .................................

BIBLE READING:

The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. — Hebrews 13:6.