Kāpiti Coast commuter rail campaigner Gwynn Compton has uncovered news that the stopgap refurbished carriages for the Capital Connection service between Palmerston North and Wellington, that were meant to be entering service in mid-2022, have now been delayed until mid-2023. This delay comes despite Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency warning Transport Minister Michael Wood in February 2021 that the Capital Connection’s current carriages would “not be fit to run beyond mid-2022”.

“Transport Minister Michael Wood and State Owned Enterprises Minister David Clark need to front up now and explain to commuters from Manawatu, Horowhenua, and Kāpiti what’s going on and what they’re doing to fix things. All the more so seeing as their Government has failed to co-invest in the new tri-mode trains urgently requested by Waka Kotahi and all the councils of the lower North Island to not only save but also expand the service,” says Mr Compton.

Gwynn Compton says the recent spate of cancellations, bus replacements, and delays caused by mechanical issues during June illustrates that without replacement carriages, the continuity of the Capital Connection is under threat, and there are now very serious questions to be answered about the rail-worthiness of the current rolling stock.

“It’s long been known that the Capital Connection’s existing carriages are well beyond the end of their useful life and it’s only thanks to KiwiRail’s hard working engineers performing miracles that they’ve been able to continue to operate, albeit with an unacceptably high rate of mechanical issues.”

The timing of the refurbished carriages entering service in mid-2022 was meant to coincide with the retirement of the existing rolling stock due to them no longer being fit for service. Yet now commuters face potentially another year with an increasing number of disruptions and decreased levels of service that could spell the end of the Capital Connection even beforre the stopgap carriages leave KiwiRail's Hutt workshops.

“Unfortunately the situation we’re seeing with the Capital Connection appears to be symptomatic of the Government’s track record of non-delivery with other public transport projects around the country. After nearly five years conducting the locomotive of Government and promising transformative changes, it’s simply not good enough and commuters deserve better.”

While Gwynn Compton is a councillor on the Kāpiti Coast District Council, these views represent his own personal opinions and are not those of the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

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