#4 - Ty 2010-11-23 19:47 - (Reply)

Massive emphasis needs to be put into our long distance passenger services... I agree that the Southerner should be re-instated ASAP, at the very least (to prove its viability) to Dunedin... Ideally people, we should be able to reach most cities in NZ by rail within 24 hours and for a reasonable price ... this would require upgrades to specific sections of the network, chiefly the main trunk lines. We would be able to run faster, more reliable trains and improve transit times, Also trains need to run more frequently (2-3 times a day each way instead of once) as people like flexibility when they travel, If there was a train running 2-3 times a day between Auckland and Invercargill it would provide an excellent platform to drive intercity passenger numbers. These days the passenger services Overlander, Tranzcoastal and Tranzalpine are pretty much orientated towards international tourists, who (despite the scenary) find our passenger trains to be a joke... This government needs to seize the opportunity to re-invent and re-establish our national passenger rail network. A lounge bar and/or private cabins on these trains would allow a premium product and higher yields that if managed correctly would become a tourist attraction in itself.

#5.1 - Ty 2010-12-07 02:44 - (Reply)

Yes we should be aiming to rebuild our personnel and expertise to further support our growth in the rail industry ... Successive governments have failed to plan and invest in our rail network for the past 60 years... privatization was the nail in the coffin. When the travel time between Auckland and Wellington was cut the 1920s from 18 to 13 hours it brought about the golden age in NZ rail. 90 years down the track and it still takes that long between those two cities by train... No wonder people dont even consider to travel by train these days. The current turnaround plan aims to cut it down to 11 hours but thats still too long ... the aim over the next 10 years should be to cut the travelling time down to 7-8 hours... and not just on the North Island main trunk line but the Main North and Main South lines... What most people in this country don’t realize (including the current govt) is that we desperately NEED a modern, efficient, reliable, integrated transport system not just to move freight from A to B or catch up to the rest of the developed world, but to grow and allow our economy to truly flourish so that our key industries (tourism, agriculture, mining etc) can really develop. Our population is now more than double what it was in 1950 (when the relevance of rail really began to decline) we host (as of Sept 2009) around 2.5 million tourists annually and this is expected to grow to 3.2 million tourists by 2014. As the low-cost airline revolution sweeps the world and the cruise ship industry continues to boom, god only knows how many visitors we can expect in 20 or even 50 years. Passenger rail travel will prove to be the best (if not the only) way to sustainably move our growing population and the burgeoning increase in tourists moving around the country in the future. We cannot expect our air/sea ports and/or the road network to cope with or even compete effectively to encourage this scale of growth. The roads are congested enough as it is, especially over the summer months (when the tourist season is in full swing). Can you even fathom how bad it might be in 50 years time? Our heavy reliance on oil makes us very vulnerable to oil shocks, we need to better position ourselves to protect our economy. Accessibility to this country and its regions has always been a major hurdle that has slowed growth in the past, now is the time to develop a truly innovative strategy that will prevent this from happening in the future. We should be constantly working to evolve the network, making things run far more efficiently, faster and cheaper whilst developing a higher quality in services available. Long distance trains should be operated with the NZ public in mind as well as International tourists. Students and senior citizens should especially be offered heavy discounts. I realize that it will be very costly... but it will cost future generations even more if we fail to make significant improvements to our transport network. Here are a few proposals the govt and Kiwirail should take on board: Integrating a long-term strategy for Kiwirail and Air NZ so their passenger operations not only complement each other but back each other up minimizing travel disruptions and providing a convenient economic passenger transport network. Air New Zealand could even manage the passenger operations on behalf of Kiwirail. Other SOEs such as NZ Post would also find a faster, more reliable rail network highly beneficial. Finding more efficient ways to do business: Prisoners could be used to carry out any labour work required (they should be building our roads as well) this would be a great way to improve productivity... In Scandinavia there are trains that run on methane gas, if we could harness the massive amounts of methane that NZ creates every year that could be of great benefit also. We must learn from the past mistakes of our government run railways and build a lean,green machine that will bring about the real Golden Age of Rail in New Zealand. Its a shame very few people seem to share this view.