20220408 Government to spend $550M on Northland railway, including spur to Northport - NZ Herald
Re 'Government to spend $550M on Northland railway, including spur to Northport'
In light of the fact that the New Zealand government has been receiving advice and warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate and the International Energy Agency about the need for us to urgently and drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and the vulnerability that stems from our total dependence on imported fossil fuels, redirecting funding away from roading projects to invest in rail-based infrastructure ( which can be electrified and used for passenger transport) is the kind of appropriate response that needs to be implemented throughout New Zealand, being as it is, a remote island nation.
Back in 2011 Save Our Rail Northland gathered 13,471 hard copy signatures from Northlanders in support of keeping the North Auckland Line open and at well-attended 'Grow Northland Rail' meetings held at Forum North in Whangarei on the 4th of April 2016 and on the 11th of September 2017 there was broad agreement that the completion of the Oakleigh-Northport rail link must be given priority to open up economic opportunities for the region - and to ensure the viability of the North Auckland Line.
In June 2020 the line was closed to make way for a $110,000,000 upgrade of tracks, bridges and tunnels between Swanson and Whangarei with freight services recommencing on 11th of January 2021.
That the Deputy Mayor of the Far North District is seeking to apply for a judicial review to question the appropriateness of the government's decision to fund Northland's rail infrastructure shows that she ( as seems to be the case with many other elected representatives and indeed a substantial section of the electorate ) is not taking into consideration the seriousness and urgency of the situation we are in with anthropogenic climate change and our energy security. An appropriate response for Far North District Councillors would be to lobby for the extension, improvement and electrification of rail infrastructure for passenger and freight services into and between population centres in their Territory. Priorities include re-establishing the link to the port of Opua through Kawakawa and back to the North Auckland Line at Otiria and all the way up to Kaitaia and in the Kaipara District for the rebuilding of the Dargaville Branch Line .
The world is changing fast and we need to have in place the infrastructure that enables us to transition away from burning fossil fuels NOW and which will provide robustness and resilience in the event that our access to imported fuel is limited or interrupted.
We look forward to the opening of the Marsden Point Line and to further extension and improvements to rail infrastructure and services throughout the Northland Region.
Nga mihi nui.
Alan William Preston has been a convenor for the Save Our Rail Northland group since it was set up in 2010. It is now an informal largely inactive community of people interested in and concerned with rail-based transport and its role in the Northland region's economy, society, environment and our long term strategic interests,- resilience, sustainability etc.
https://sites.google.com/site/saveourrailnorthland/home
https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveourrailnorthland
To see the article published in the Northern Advocate on Tuesday the 12th of April 2022 : Northland rail campaigners welcome $550M for spur to Marsden Pt and other rail work