Canterbury is one step closer to having a regional passenger rail service, as the region’s mayors decided against kicking the idea down the road.
It followed pro-rail presentations from members of the public, who asked the Canterbury Regional Transport Committee to be aspirational, look at the success of rail projects like the Capital Connection (Palmerston North to Wellington), and to cash in on the growing popularity of rail as a mode of transport.
The committee — made up of every mayor in Canterbury, as well as the chairperson and deputy chairperson of Environment Canterbury (ECan) — was faced with a recommendation by staff at its Thursday meeting to defer looking into regional passenger rail until 2027, or when other transport planning began.
The ECan staffers argued since similar research was being done by the Greater Christchurch Partnership, it could pay to wait and see what came of that.
