Climate Justice Taranaki congratulates the government on its decision to force KiwiRail to keep its electric locomotives.

"This is great news. Finally, the government is making a decision based on environmental benefits rather than commercial profits. Electric rail for freight and passengers along-with well-designed local and regional public transport systems will contribute a great deal to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and spending on oil imports.

One has to remember also that commonly argued business cases nearly always ignore the economic costs of environmental damage. The government's promise of $35 million to refurbish the electric locomotives is a great start and we look forward to further investment in all low emissions transport systems," says Catherine Cheung spokesperson of Climate Justice Taranaki.

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