Minister of Transport Steven Joyce has just announced the new ownership and operating model for metro commuter rail services in Auckland and Wellington. In a nutshell: KiwiRail subsidiaries will own the rolling stock (that means neither ARTA or the Greater Wellington Regional Council will own rolling stock, as currently proposed); […]
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Brian Rudman writes in today’s New Zealand Herald: The Government’s antipathy to embracing new Auckland public transport projects has made the debate over a rail link to Auckland International Airport rather academic. Which makes it rather surprising that the airport company should be so sensitive about a recent Metro article’s […]
KiwiRail’s staff newsletter, The Express (not online sorry), has a series of pictures of the new EMUs for Wellington’s electrified urban rail system. The 149-seat units are under construction at Changwon in South Korea. More details here.
Rudman pretty much sums it up in today’s Herald: Mr Joyce now seems to be deliberately taunting Aucklanders, promising all will be well, while slowly and publicly plucking the wheels off the trains, one by one. He seemed to be deliberately mischievous last weekend when, while enthusing about roads, he […]
The New Zealand Herald reports that both fuel tax and road user charges will increase tomorrow, as the Government increases petrol excise by 3.75c per litre. Road User Charges (RUCs) will increase an average of 7% tomorrow as well. An interesting quote: drivers of small diesel cars and other vehicles […]
The Howick and Pakuranga Times reports that construction of the new branch from the Southern Line (NIMT) to central Manukau City is now well underway. http://www.times.co.nz/cms/news/2009/09/all_steam_ahead_on_new_link.php
The Press reports that Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce, is backing the largely tourist-oriented TranzAlpine long-distance passenger train, which runs daily from Christchurch to Greymouth.
On Radio NZ this morning: Mainfreight says it will double the amount it spends moving cargo on the railways if the Government changes KiwiRail to a more commercial model. The freight company spends more than $20 million per year on rail, but says it needs more rail services to be […]