An urgent public meeting has been called for Tuesday 9th October to highlight why the Government and those behind the scenes promoting trams/light rail and bus links to the airport have got it all wrong.
The meeting has been organized by NZ Transport 2050 Inc and the Public Transport Users Association and will highlight an alternative transport strategy called START “Straight to AirportRapid Trains”.
NZ Transport 2050 Chair, Paul Miller, says “The Government and Auckland Council have been sold alemon which won’t solve the massive congestion issues caused by the trending growth at AucklandAirport. It seems that officials have been hi-jacked into something which simply does not solve the congestion problem, wastes the billions we have spent on trains, will cause significant issues forthose living on Dominion Road and won’t remove a single truck from the roads trying to reach theexpansive airport logistics and surrounding manufacturing zones.”
Meeting organisers will present facts which will highlight the disadvantages trams to an airport will have. It will also show the bus link from the airport to Puhinui station is not a first world solution.
A modern, fast train linking the airport to every single Auckland railway station and south to Hamilton and Tauranga is what we need the Government to take a serious and objective look at.
The Minister of Transport, Phil Twyford, needs to be open minded on the airport congestion issues before he commits taxpayers to fund one of the slowest tram/light-rail links in the world to Aucklandairport and a “user unfriendly” airport bus shuttle link from Puhinui railway station.
Jon Reeves, National Coordinator of the Public Transport Users Association says “If the NZTA are going to fund any large scale transport project we would like it be a something that benefits thewidest reach of Auckland, the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty. It’s called a railway network which isalready in place. Auckland has spent over $6.5 billion on our railway network in the past 16 years, and the city rail link tunnel will further open up reach of our rail system. To not capitalise on that investment by operating fast, modern Airport Trains is purely crazy.”
The public meeting will include guest speakers Councilor Mike Lee, Paul Miller (Transport 2050) and Jon Reeves (PTUA).
PUBLIC MEETING 9th OCTOBER:
The public meeting is this Tuesday night (9th October), 7pm, Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, 487 Dominion Road.
Good luck at getting Phil Twyford involved as we in Gisborne/HB have sent Phil Twyford 24 emails since his election to be our ‘transport minister he has ignored every request we have made to get him to come to any rail meeting our groups have had in either Napier or Gisborne.
My feeling is now that he is not interested in attending any public meetings around the country on any regional rail issues we need to ask for a new “Minister of Rail” again now, since we have our rail system back into public ownership hands.’
Phil Twyford has been overloaded by to many portfolios, so we need another serious Minister who will actually meet with public around the country on rail issues now.
We hope you do have better luck than we had in Gisborne/HB as he never even answered any emails or to show up here at all.
Since he lives in Auckland he should attend a public rail meeting there we feel; – but he doesn’t seem to want to attend any other public rail meetings anywhere else in the country.
Evidently he didn’t go to the Rail Meeting in Auckland last night either, I don’t think Goff went either ?
People get uppity when there’s a railway in there backyard or even in there front yard. Dammed if you do dammed if you don’t. It’s much easier having to deal with one entity rather than a whole bunch of home owners who’s house prices are about to take a hit for the all the noise. With dampening and lightweight material it will be much easier dampining noise and other stuff on light rail rather than heavier rail.
And just think about putting a heavy train line to the airport for a sec. On a short hoop you’ve got 1hrs to and from airport plus 1hr flight and one hr in the airport. Under 400ks you may as well stay on the train. Freight trains make the bulk of profits and it’s not the best solution putting less profitable passenger trains on the same line. Every which way you look there’s a headache, not surprised no one wants any of it and as I say dammed if you dammed if you don’t.
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