I’ve been meaning to write on this madness for a long time:
KiwiRail cost-saving plan ‘nuts’
Cash-strapped KiwiRail is proposing to replace electric trains with more diesel-powered engines – a move which will horrify environmentalists and could see the loss of hundreds of jobs. Fairfax Media has learned of cost-saving plans to buy a dozen more diesel locomotives from China, to replace ageing electric trains on the 680km-long Wellington-Auckland railway. Electric trains are expensive, but they are faster and produce far less pollutants.
Move from a cleaner energy source to a dirtier one? Lose jobs? Chinese rail stock again (because the last set worked out so well)? This is unfortunately typical of the way NZ is currently run. Make decisions that are stupid in the long term for the sake of short term cost saving / profit.
We are apparently the only country in the world that is contemplating this backwards step (question time today).
There were protest marches around the country today (if I’d known about them in advance I would have advertised them here). Here’s the Greens on the Wellington protest:
Marching backwards – very appropriate.
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