On Saturday 1 July more than 30 Restore Passenger Rail supporters carried banners down Hereford and Colombo Streets in central Christchurch, walking at a very slow pace and blocking vehicles traveling in their direction.

“In 2020 our government declared a climate emergency, committing to urgent climate action. Three years of storms, droughts and heatwaves later we still have not seen this action. Now we’re calling on the people of Aotearoa to step up. Either we are actively in resistance, on the side of life, or we are complicit with a government that is aiding and abetting catastrophic climate breakdown.” said spokesperson Jonty Coulson, aged 22 years.

“People my age and younger are terrified of our future. Our elders are terrified for us. We are marching today because the only way we can show the severity of the climate crisis is to put our bodies on the line. We are raising the alarm not because we want to but because we must. For the sake of my generation and those that come after us.”

In 2022, New Zealand had the second ever hottest autumn on record. 2023 has seen unprecedented wildfires in Canada, catastrophic flooding in Italy, and in New Zealand, devastation from Cyclone Gabrielle in February and just last week, further flooding events to cyclone damaged areas.

“We demand that our government restore affordable and reliable national passenger rail services, as well as free and universally accessible public transport. These demands are low hanging fruit for climate action. They will start to reduce our transport emissions, and they will help make a better future for all of us,” said Coulson.

© Scoop Media