First, a rally in Gisborne to support the retention of the rail link. This can only be a good thing. However it needs to be followed up with further pressure via the council, and the Eastland Community Trust. The talented Mr Nash, who is leaving Wellington for Hawkes Bay, could do with an issue to use to raise his profile in the region. It wasn't so many elections ago that the East Coast was red, not blue, and the turn-around has to start somewhere.
With his comment
'Nothing's changed from our perspective,'Jim Quinn of KiwiRail demonstrates, by the bucket-load
a) management in New Zealand is generally of poor quality, and
b) KiwiRail should not be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the rail network.
What he really means is "KiwiRail doesn't care one iota about Gisborne"?
Meanwhile, over at The Standard, the usually flippant Zetetic posts in support of repairing and re-opening the Gisborne rail line. And gets over 100 comments.
They disappear off to the "trucks and roads are massively subsidized" argument*, but what has surprised me is that no one has played the "the latest report says trucks aren't subsidized at all, in fact it's quite the opposite" card. I'm left wondering whether no one has thought of it yet, or because "the latest report" is linked strongly to the seriously discredited Ports of Auckland CEO - Tony Gibson.
* Trucks and roads are subsidized compared to rail. I'll provide coarse evidence if requested and I think I can prove it, but that will cost money. Since this is my own private and personal blog and I don't solicit for business through it, anyone who really wants proof will have to track me down using other methods. And bring a cheque.
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