KEY POINTS:
With the price of petrol continuing to soar, Green MP Keith Locke wants the Auckland-to-Whangarei passenger rail service re-opened as an alternative to road travel.
It last operated in 1976, but the list MP says it is time to reinstate the Northland line.
Mr Locke's call has the backing of Northland Regional Council chairman Mark Farnsworth.
Speaking at the re-opening of the Auckland-to-Helensville line - the first section of the Northland line - Mr Locke said the time was right to look at extending the service through to Whangarei.
"With the price of oil rising, people are looking more and more at alternatives to car travel. Sure, there are buses, but a lot of people, including myself, like train travel - it's smoother and more sociable, plus rail travels a different route to the highway."
Mr Locke said that if the Greens were in the next Government, the party would push for the line to be reinstated.
But a feasibility study would be needed. The route could re-opened for a trail period, like the Auckland-to-Helensville service, which is running three times a day for a year.
The track to Whangarei carries freight, but Mr Locke said work was needed on it to bring it up to passenger standard.
An upgrade of the Auckland-Whangarei track would be welcomed in many circles in Northland.
Mr Farnsworth said it was vital to the regional council's plans for a 16km link to Marsden Pt.
"But I don't think you need to polish your crystal ball to understand that with the escalating fuel costs, and the predictions for those costs to continue to rise, that public transport will come back into its own."
The council is working with rail infrastructure agency Ontrack to secure land for the 16km rail corridor to the port at Marsden Pt.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
