Note: Submissions close 5pm on 17 March 2021. Info from Horizons Regional Council:
Reps from the region’s councils, Waka Kotahi NZTA and KiwiRail have worked together to allocate funding for transport initiatives in our region. Let us know if we go it right. Read the summary and find the submission form at haveyoursay.horizons.govt.nz.
Some details from Regional Land Transport Plan 2021-31:
The long term vision for transport in the region is to be a region that connections central New Zealand and supports safe, accessible and sustainable transport options. …
As mentioned above, transport and the networks that service it, affects everyone in their day to day lives. We want to change how our transport system operates to achieve the following:
- Better connections, access and travel choice. This is about giving people more options about how they travel and also ensuring everyone has access to the places they need to go.
- Improved safety on the network. We want to improve the safety of the network to reduce the number of serious deaths and injuries on our roads.
- Reduce the environmental impact and carbon emissions from transport.
- Create a more resilient system. This is about managing the network to minimise disruptions from the unplanned events on the transport network.
Ultimately we want to have a transport system that is safe and encourages the use of many different types of transport (e.g. use of public transport, cycling and walking, rail for freight movement) as we believe this will improve the health of not only our communities but the environment too.
From the Draft Regional Land Transport Plan, Page 19:
The primary passenger rail service provided in the region is the Capital Connection which travels between Palmerston North and Wellington and is a weekday commuter service that completes a morning and evening trip with various stops along the way. The Capital Connection has been operating since 1991 and is an established and integral part of the transport network on the Palmerston North to Wellington corridor. The service provides an alternative means of transport for people in Palmerston North and along the Wellington corridor, which is important due to the reliability (congestion) and resilience issues that affect that road corridor. The current capital connection rolling stock has reached the end of its useful life and requires significant maintenance. Refurbishment of the current stock is underway. Further to this, significant local investment is proposed as part of this Plan to enable the continuation and replacement of the current Capital Connection service with a new modern fleet of trains and increased service frequency which will improve access and transport choice between Wellington and Palmerston North as well as the communities in between. If uptake of the service is increased then it can be expected that use of this transport option will also reduce carbon emissions.