Mire’s message

Train connections

Heading for the hills (Nov 28) points out the advantages of living a bit further out of Wellington, but also highlights the difficulty in commuting beyond Waikanae on the Ka¯piti Coast by train.

The area is served by only one train daily each way, which is far less than that enjoyed by Wairarapa residents who have a similar commute.

Electrification and double-tracking of the line to Levin are the obvious answer, but thiswill necessarily take some years to achieve, assuming there is the political will to do so.

Meantime, why not utilise the Capital Connection rolling stock, which currently sits in aWellington station siding all day until it returns in the evening, by running a smaller train to Levin and back, say, mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

This would cater for later work starters and shoppers in the morning and people who finish work earlier in the afternoon.

The second possibility is to haul electric units to Levin by diesel two or three times a day, just as was done before the linewas electrified from Paeka¯ka¯riki to Paraparaumu.

Finally, maybe a rail car could run from Waikanae to Levin and back a few times a day, linking with the existing excellent electric train service to Wellington.

If heading to the hills is to be feasible we cannot rely only on the forthcoming motorway and one train a day. IainWatson, taki Beach

Implicit in GuledMire’s article ( Inclusion is the key to unlocking Wellington’s potential, Nov 28) is the notion that racism is holding Wellington’s immigrant community back, though he makes no attempt to substantiate that claim.

Also implicit, and flowing from that assertion, is the idea that the city should be more inclusive toward immigrants. Mire avoids specifying how this should be achieved, but gives a clue when he urges the city council to facilitate an ‘‘inclusive whole-of-community approach’’.

Could this be code for a statutory role in decision-making, as advocated by his academic mentor Dr Camille Nakhid, of Auckland University of Technology?

Mire’s message is potentially one of divisiveness. Most New Zealanders welcome cultural diversity, but few things are more likely to jeopardise harmonious community relationships than minority agitation for special treatment.

Karl du Fresne, Masterton