“We have agreed, in good faith, to temporarily stop disrupting traffic to allow for discussions with the minister,” said spokeswoman Rosemary Penwarden.
However, National transport spokesman Simeon Brown said the minister should not meet with the group.
Brown said Wood has effectively given in to the group’s demand for a meeting and there were other groups campaigning for better public transport without causing disruption.
“They are the ones who should be listened to rather than a bunch of reckless idiots who have been causing mayhem on the streets of Wellington and they should be completely ignored.”
The protests, which have ranged from protesters glueing themselves across Transmission Gully to abseiling down the Mt Victoria Tunnel entrance, have caused havoc across the capital for the past six weeks.
They recently tried to join Parliament’s transport select committee to advocate for inter-regional passenger rail, while they blocked State Highway 1 near Johnsonville.
In response, committee chairman Shanan Halbert temporarily closed the public meeting until the committee unanimously decided against allowing the protesters to make a submission while conducting illegal activity.
The three people sitting above the motorway were taken into police custody a short time later.
Restore Passenger Rail has apologised to people for the inconvenience their protests cause - but maintained that what they are fighting for is worth it.
Te Wehi Ratana, a spokesman for the Restore Passenger Rail group, spoke from above the Mt Victoria Tunnel during a protest and called for the Government to immediately restore passenger rail throughout the country.
“I’m up here sounding the alarm for urgent climate action,” he said. “We’re in a climate emergency.”
Penwarden acknowledged it was an “extreme” action but said there wasn’t much time left to combat climate change.
“We want a commitment from the Government that they are going to look seriously at producing transport.”
