Rally to save our electric locomotives
Green MP Julie Anne Genter and a 14m-long moving billboard rally to save our electric locomotives
Green Party
transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter will lead a rally
outside KiwiRail Auckland HQ as part of her campaign to stop
KiwiRail from ditching electric locomotives in favour of
diesel ones.
Volunteers will create a 14m-long moving billboard of an electric freight train outside the KiwiRail offices, and KiwiRail Corporate Responsibility Manager Karl Check has agreed to meet Julie Anne.
“New Zealand taxpayers deserve clean transport choices that are fit for the 21st century – ditching our electric locomotives is a short-sighted decision,” said Ms Genter.
“The National Government is starving our rail infrastructure of capital investment when we desperately need to develop a smart, low-carbon transport system.
“National’s backwards policy is forcing KiwiRail to make poor short-term decisions to save a few bucks, and it will cost us a fortune in the long run.
“Investing in electric locomotives is a common-sense way to cut our carbon pollution and it would create jobs in New Zealand along the way.”
General Secretary of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union Wayne Butson has also voiced his support for keeping electric locomotives.
“Replacing KiwiRail’s electric fleet with a fossil fuel fleet will take the country backwards,” said Mr. Butson.
“KiwiRail should not let cost considerations override its responsibility to consult its workers and protect the environment. Investing in a new electric fleet means greater job security for the workers who maintain the current electric fleet.”
ends