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RNZ News
12-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Free fares for bus-replaced Wairarapa train services long time coming
File photo. Waterloo train station. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King Free fares for Wairarapa train services that have been bus replaced indefinitely have been a long time coming says a local councillor. The route between the capital and Masterton has been plagued by issues for the first half of this year. In March RNZ reported that just 17 percent of Wairarapa's trains were on time for most of February. Between April 2024 and April 2025 patronage on the line had plunged by 25 percent. Greater Wellington Regional Council have pointed to a lack of staff on the Wairarapa line which have necessary specialised training for the Remutaka Tunnel which had resulted in four services a week being bus replaced till further notice. The regional council believed Transdev who employed rail staff could provide enough training for the necessary number of workers by September. At a meeting today, council decided until then the bus replaced services would be free on the Wairarapa line. Greater Wellington regional councillor for Wairarapa Adrienne Staples said at the meeting the concessions were a long time coming. "This has been going on for a couple of months, we've been tearing our hair out in Wairarapa about this, and it has taken such a long time for us to take it seriously." Staples said the council now took the issue seriously but was critical for the time it took to do so. Fellow councillor and transport committee chair Thomas Nash said this was good initiative but that the problem was in the context of a wider problem with passenger rail in New Zealand. Nash said whenever tactical interventions like this were considered it needed to be done alongside consideration of long-term issues with the rail lines such as who owns the rail assets and the control of them. It was estimated that the council would lose between $4000 and $6000 a week because of the concessions. The council has also said that rail infrastructure issues such as rusty rails, points failures and signal faults have caused delays for trains. KiwiRail chief metro and programmes officer David Gordon said the Wellington rail lines went through a period where they did not see the level of maintenance investment they needed for decades. "Particularly the Wairarapa Line which was approaching a state where closure may have been necessary." Gordon said while infrastructure issues contribute to the performance of the Wairarapa passenger trains, there were other factors. "Service crewing shortages remain an ongoing problem and these are not a KiwiRail responsibility." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
13-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Milestone Reached For Waipoua Flood Risk Management Plan
pA preferred option to protect areas in Masterton at risk of flooding from the Waipoua River has been proposed by Greater Wellington in collaboration with the local community and mana whenua. Incorporating feedback received from community engagement earlier this year, the preferred flood risk management option recommends upgrading and extending the existing stopbanks and investigating the use of nature-based solutions in the upper catchment. Wairarapa councillor Adrienne Staples says community input to the project has been crucial. 'Community members, mana whenua representatives, Greater Wellington and Masterton District Council staff have been working together to devise flood risk management strategies since 2019,' says Cr Staples. 'Combining the technical knowledge of council staff and the lived experience of locals means we can create lasting flood risk management plans while drawing from a diverse range of viewpoints.' Greater Wellington's director for knowledge and insights, Dave Hipkins, says the development of the preferred option is a significant milestone in improving Masterton's flood resilience. 'Masterton is built on a floodplain between three rivers, with parts of the urban area at risk from flooding in a 1% AEP flood — a flood that has a 1:100 chance of occurring in any given year,' says Hipkins. 'As we've experienced with Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events recently there are devastating effects from flooding and these events are likely to become more unpredictable and hazardous due to climate change. 'This proposal will improve Masterton's flood resilience capability and preserve community infrastructure and urban areas. We are grateful for all the input we heard from locals and for the commitment of those involved in the Waipoua Project Team.'
