Government Funding Fails Christchurch Public Transport

The Government’s National Land Transport Programme announced on Friday is seen as a massive fail for the development of public transport in Christchurch and wider Canterbury.

Tane Apanui, Canterbury Co-ordinator of the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), says, “Labour promised rapid commuter rail for Canterbury in the lead up to the election last year along with $100 million in funding to set the system up. Saturday’s announcement by the Minister of Transport Phil Twyford, did not mention any funding to Canterbury commuter rail. It also made zero mention of commuter rail for the regions. That’s a massive fail.”

After roads, Canterbury is fortunate to have the second largest transport corridor, a railway network, in the region and it is underutilised. PTUA says rapid commuter trains could easily be transporting passengers across the region from Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Rolleston, Lyttelton and even Timaru to the city centre.

“We are missing only a few platforms and with those in place, we could relatively easily and quickly have passengers delivered back into the city centre. That’s a small investment compared to other transport alternatives,” Apanui says.

The PTUA would like to see the Labour Government deliver on what was promised to the people of Canterbury, and provide funding for a commuter rail system that moves people quickly, separate from the congested roads.

“The PTUA recently established a branch in Canterbury and we will be challenging both the Government and Environment Canterbury (ECAN) over their lack of focus on commuter trains on established rail corridors.,” says Tane Apanui.

Recently ECAN presented a Draft Transport Plan for Canterbury and it barely made mention of commuter rail. The PTUA understands groups involved in developing the plan included many organisations and councils but did not include the national rail operator Kiwirail.

“It’s like designing a recipe but excluding a chef from the process. The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) have been involved in the Draft Plan, but they have never designed or planned a functioning commuter rail system in the history of their existence. They lack expertise and cannot be relied upon delivering commuter rail for Canterbury.”

ENDS

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