Green Party Announce Plan For Passenger Rail Between Major NZ Cities
The Green Party has announced its plan to invest in New Zealand’s rail network by connecting the country with intercity passenger rail services.
These services include:
- An Auckland-Wellington overnight rail service,
- Passenger rail between Christchurch and Dunedin,
- Improving, electrifying and extending the Te Huia route to Tauranga.
“Where public transport has been invested in, it’s well used, saving people time and money every day. But for a lot of New Zealand, public transport options remain expensive and infrequent, especially when travelling long distances,” says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.
“We want to connect our cities and our country with alternative ways to travel that will save people money, connect our communities and give New Zealanders real transport choices.”
“Aotearoa was once connected by a reliable passenger rail system, with fast, frequent services linking communities across the country. But the privatisation of the rail network led to the sale of our assets for private profit and was returned to the people in disarray.”
“Now, our aging rail infrastructure is suffering from a generation of underinvestment, leaving the rail network in a state of decline with cancellations, delays and bus replacements. We should restore these systems so we can have an efficient, comfortable and affordable alternative to experience our country.”
Green Party Transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter says, “These tracks are already there, so we should use them.”
“Restoring commuter rail will give smaller regions and towns the benefits of more travellers stopping at their town stations, creating more economic opportunities and connecting them to main centres and other towns.”
“The train journey from Auckland to Wellington is long, which makes it perfect for an overnight service. All that is needed is new, comfortable sleeper trains and operating funding.”
“Extending Te Huia to Tauranga would connect one of NZ’s fastest-growing regions. All it needs is some station, tunnel and track upgrades to give the region an affordable alternative to driving.”
“With KiwiRail already undertaking significant work on the Christchurch to Dunedin track, extending it to passenger rail would only take building stations and some upgrades, making better use of existing rail infrastructure,” says Julie Anne Genter.
This is one part of the Green Partys’ overall transport plan for fast, frequent and affordable public transport, which will be fully announced later today.
Notes:
The train journey from Auckland to Wellington is slow, which makes it perfect for an overnight service. All that is needed are new, comfortable sleeper trains, and operating funding, with the bulk costs over operation coming being covered by fares.”
Extending Te Huia to Tauranga could initially be done without additional trains, with scheduling adjustments for freight that allow them to safely pass through the Kaimai tunnel.
We’ll upgrade ventilation in the Kaimai tunnel so it’s safe for passenger trains, construct stations, provide additional passing loops and make some targeted track improvements to begin to bring down the travel time from Auckland to Tauranga.
In the south, KiwiRail has already undertaken significant bridge, track, drainage and resilience work on the Main South Line. We’ll build stations, more passing loops, improve signalling and upgrade some critical level crossings to enable this service
Costings
Infometrics have reviewed our costings and have found that “the cost estimates provided are reasonable, with various reasonable estimates made, based on official costings or business cases, or extrapolating capital and operating costs from existing services.” We can provide you their report once the whole package is released.
| Initial services | Estimated costs ($m) |
| Pilot Auckland – Wellington overnight service | $110 |
| Auckland – Tauranga | $2,050 |
| Christchurch to Dunedin | $410 |
| Total | $2,570 |
| Project – Future | |
| Stage two works for a faster journey between Auckland – Tauranga | $1,450 |
| Overall Total | $4,020 |
