Fast-Track the CBD Rail Loop
The CBD rail loop is a public transport project that has the potential to transform the Auckland rail network, giving Aucklanders real transport choices. It will revitalize the Auckland CBD and is an essential first step to getting rail links to other locations such as the airport and North Shore in future. We have launched the Fast-Track the CBD Rail Loop Campaign to convince the government to provide funding for this crucial project in the 2011 budget.
What you can do?
Please help us to show the government that Aucklanders want, and need, construction of the CBD Rail Loop to start as soon as possible. You can do this by:
- signing our online petition to Fast-Track the CBD rail loop
- download a hardcopy of our petition and start collecting signatures
- email steven [dot] joyce [at] parliament [dot] govt [dot] nz (Steven Joyce), the Minister of Transport, asking him to provide funding for the loop as soon as possible
- joining our Facebook page - Fast-Track the CBD Rail Loop - to show your support online!
For more information, email gareth [dot] hughes [at] parliament [dot] govt [dot] nz (Gareth) or have a look at the background information about the CBD Rail Loop.
What's new
State of Auckland report supports green transport priorities
The State of our City report demonstrates that Auckland urgently needs a CBD rail loop and other green transport priorities because it is the economic engine of the country, said the Green Party today. It also shows that by far the highest growth in new housing has been in the CBD. Bus and train patronage is way up, while car registrations are declining.
"New Zealand is following the world-wide trend of a knowledge-based economy and urban living. Now we need central government to recognise that transport needs are changing," said Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
CBD rail loop or holiday highway? It’s the Govt’s choice
If the Government followed its own advice on cost-effective infrastructure, it would invest in the transformational CBD rail loop for the future of Auckland instead of an uneconomic holiday highway, said the Green Party today.
"The choice is clear: the Puhoi to Wellsford expressway is projected to cost about the same as the CBD rail loop," said Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
Gareth's weekly column in CRACCUM: 2 August 2010 - Day-dreaming about trains
Are you a geek like me and sometimes stare at the rail map when travelling on the train and imagine how you'd make it better? Given that in Auckland, you are often waiting a fair amount of time either for or on the train I imagine lots of you do… So what's the one thing you would do?
Gareth Hughes questions the Minister of Transport on the Auckland CBD rail loop
GARETH HUGHES (Green) to the Minister of Transport: Does he agree with Auckland Mayor John Banks, in an opinion piece supporting the central business district rail loop, that "rail is the most effective and efficient way of providing for Auckland's growth in travel demand"?
Urgent need for CBD Rail Loop, says Auckland
The Government needs to fast-track the CBD Rail Loop project to meet the needs of a 21st century Auckland, said a politically broad range of speakers at the launch of the Green Party's Rail Loop campaign today.
"Auckland has missed out on having the rail network that it needs because for decades the Beehive has failed to provide the necessary funding," said Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
Petition - Fast-Track the Auckland CBD Rail Loop
Background Information on the CBD Rail Loop
What is the CBD Rail Loop?
It is an underground rail tunnel that will run from Britomart, parallel to Queen Street, with stations at Aotea Square, K Road and upper Symonds Street.
Fast-track the CBD Rail Loop - campaign launch with Gareth Hughes and Keith Locke, Green MPs
Where: Britomart Transport Centre, Auckland
Gareth Hughes, Green Party transport spokeperson and Keith Locke, Auckland MP invite you to join us at the launch of a new Green transport campaign: Fast-Track the CBD Rail Loop.
Speakers at the launch will include Len Brown, Mayor of Manukau City, Christine Rose, Auckland Regional Councillor and Alex Swney, CEO of Heart of the City and a spokesperson for the Campaign for Better Transport.
The CBD rail loop is a crucial project which will unlock the capacity of Auckland's public transport system allowing more frequent and reliable rail services across the region, making it possible to build rail to the airport and North Shore in future, and revitalising the Auckland CBD.
