14 July 2008

Kiwi trains good news for kiwi economy

The Green Party encourages the Government to move as quickly as possible on plans to assemble new KiwiRail locomotives in New Zealand, says Regional Economic Development Spokesperson Sue Bradford.

"Assembling our own trains here is exactly the sort of investment New Zealand needs to counter the effects of the global economic slow down.

"And after all, we are already rebuilding rolling stock at Hillside in Dunedin as well as carrying out maintenance and repairs at the Woburn workshop.

"National's opposition to this idea before it's even investigated shows they are stuck in the dark ages," Ms Bradford says.

"As the impacts of climate change and ever rising oil prices kick in, it is imperative we do everything we can to become more self sufficient in manufacturing and repairing our public transport infrastructure.

"In the near future we will rely much more heavily on energy efficient transport systems like rail. We must seize every opportunity now to make sure that we can run and maintain those systems ourselves.

"We need to foster expertise at home and reduce our dependence on experts and labour on the other side of the world."

ENDS

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