Rail link 2
Dave [Macpherson], I can only work with the dots provided. Although I thought it would be a good idea if the WRC only levied Hamilton residents for a Hamilton-Auckland train set I do not remember that being mentioned. My points still stand.
The compulsory levy will fall on the rich and poor alike whether they want or are able to access this new service or are, indeed, even able to pay it without undue stress.
I am a taxpayer so I will be asked to contribute to the $20 million startup fee. Given that the track concerned is not electrified, I wonder what the trains will look like. And will $20 million be enough? If it is not, who will cover the shortfall?
Your patronage figure was no doubt determined by a consultant who, as a professional, would have charged professional fees. Who paid that invoice? Did the payment come out of the aforementioned $20 million? Or did the long-suffering ratepayers of Hamilton have to stump up with the cash?
The $100 is still on the table for you to pick up should you be able to attain that level of patronage within five years of the project starting.
If you are so worried about congestion open your eyes and look around you. Hamilton is succumbing to the Auckland disease of not enough public transport that can even attempt to run on time and too many cars. The solution is obviously trains to the outlying towns and suburbs of Hamilton. Yes Dave, I am an avid fan of trains. I just get frustrated that the powers that be pick the most expensive option with the lowest possible patronage to start on. Meanwhile they have ripped up the tracks to Cambridge and replaced them with a motorway. I read somewhere in the Waikato Times that 20,000 cars a day enter Hamilton. Try working on giving some of these drivers a real alternative.
Geoff Orchard
Ohaupo
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