Trains can help people and freight in regional New Zealand travel safely and efficiently, taking trucks and cars off the road, and reducing the pollution that causes climate change. The indefinite closure of the Manawatū Gorge is an opportunity to revitalise passenger trains in this part of New Zealand. The Green Party will: Establish a new twice-daily passenger train service between Palmerston North and Napier: the Ruahine Runner. Bring fares down on the existing Capital Connection commuter service between Palmerston...

The Green Party today launched a plan to trial a new twice-daily passenger train from Palmerston North to Napier, while the Manawatū Gorge is closed to road traffic, as well as a commitment to increase funding to reduce fares on the Capital Connection service between Palmerston North and Wellington. “National has let regional rail services rust away but the Greens in government will restore rail as the backbone of New Zealand’s transport system, for freight and for people,” said Green...

The Green Party is announcing today that in Government it will fast-track the building of a new rail line to Auckland airport to be completed in 2021, in time for the next America’s Cup. By light rail it will take approximately 43 minutes to travel from Wynyard Quarter, up Queen Street and Dominion Road to the airport. The $2.3 billion rail line will be a project of national significance funded from the transport fund. In Government we will also investigate...

Today, most kids travel to school stuck in the backseat of a car, creating congestion and pollution in our cities. Safety is the number one concern that stops parents from sending their child to school on foot or by bike. When parents wave goodbye to their child in the morning they should know they’re going to be safe when riding their bike or walking with their friends to school. Kids walking, biking or riding their scooter to school are healthier,...

The Green Party is setting a target to get half of New Zealand’s freight moving by rail and sea within 10 years, which will dramatically reduce the number of dangerous trucks clogging up New Zealand’s roads. Instead of demanding that rail return a profit, which has set rail up to fail, we’ll fund it from the transport budget in the same way roads are, providing the investment needed to move freight in the most effective and clean way. Every year,...

The Government needs to vastly improve Auckland's public transport before it introduces tolls on Auckland's roads, or it risks further punishing people who live on the edge of the city, the Green Party said today. Finance Minister Steven Joyce today announced that the Government and Auckland Council are investigating road tolls in Auckland to manage demand on the roads. “Aucklanders need to have access to reliable, fast, affordable trains and buses before road pricing is introduced to discourage people driving...

Transport Minister Simon Bridges needs to clarify his position and order an independent review into KiwRail’s decision to replace electric freight trains with unreliable diesel trains, the Green Party said today On Friday Simon Bridges conceded that "there is an avenue down the line for different decisions to be made…” This followed the release of internal KiwiRail reports showing that new diesel trains could cost $230 million more than upgrading the electric fleet, and raising concerns about their reliability. “It’s...

Simon Bridges needs to immediately halt plans to scrap New Zealand's electric freight trains following the release of KiwiRail reports raising major concerns about the diesel trains the State Owned Enterprise intends to buy, the Green Party said today. Documents provided to the Green Party show that KiwiRail bosses decided to scrap New Zealand's electric trains in December last year, despite being told their diesel replacements could cost $230 million more than simply upgrading the existing electric fleet. KiwiRail were...

Increased infrastructure spending must focus on the best ways to fix the housing and transport problems in Auckland, not just a few more expensive and ineffective highways, the Green Party said today. “The most serious infrastructure problems Auckland faces are in transport and housing, and National has spent the last nine years showing that they have no idea how to fix either of them,” Green Party Auckland Issues spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said. “The full trains and overflowing buses every...

The announcement that Auckland’s Northern Busway will be upgraded to rail is a huge win for the Greens’ campaign to get rail to the Shore, but Aucklanders shouldn’t have to wait 30 years for it to happen, the Green Party said today. National’s Auckland transport strategy says a second harbour crossing won’t happen for another 20 to 30 years, but a recent Auckland Transport (AT) study released under the OIA shows parts of the Northern Busway will face overcrowding and...