New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Ron Mark plans to take up the issue of delayed and overcrowded trains on the Wairarapa line in Parliament this year.
New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Ron Mark. Photo: RNZ / Demelza Leslie
The former Carterton Mayor had a meeting yesterday with Wairarapa resident, Minty Hunter, who is representing a group of about 90 fed-up commuters.
Mr Hunter said the trains ran too infrequently outside of commuting hours, trains broke down regularly, the air conditioning was temperamental, and there were concerns for the staff working in hot conditions.
Mr Hunter said Wairarapa roads were getting insanely busy, which suggested the trains needed to be improved.
Mr Mark said peoples' lives had been made miserable by the Greater Wellington Regional Council's "shoddy" rail service, and the level of anger and annoyance at the service into the Wairarapa had reached a pinnacle.
"I think people are over it. They cannot see any reason why the trains are so frequently late, why so frequently cancelled, why the service is so bad, why people are having to stand in the trains from Wellington to Featherston."
He also remarked there was a lack of trains to bring tourists into the Wairarapa region.
Mr Mark said the three mayors of South Wairarapa, Carterton and Masterton all presented to the Labour caucus in Martinborough last week on the matter, and that he planned to take up the issue with some force when Parliament sat again.
He said he had been "banging on" about the need to improve what he described as the appalling rail service for Wairarapa residents, throughout last year's election campaign and during the Labour New Zealand First negotiations last year.
According to Mr Mark, the service had become so bad that it was not only choking growth in the region north of Wellington, but there were stories of people moving back to the capital because they were tired of the commuting hassle.
