Waikato Trains NOW! support is continuously growing. In March 2010 the Campaign For Better Transport presented the largest Waikato petition (11,500 signatures) in over a decade to Hamilton MP's calling on the Government to have Hamilton to Auckland commuter trains running. As Hamilton Labour List MP Sue Moroney has always been fully supportive of this issue, the CBT decided to give the petition to her to present in Parliament. Unfortunately, National's Hamilton East and Hamilton West MP's David Bennett and Tim MacIndoe have not been supportive of the proposal which would benefit the residents and businesses in Hamilton (and the greater Waikato)immediately. David Bennett even went so far as to block the petition from being heard by the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee, a committee which he chairs. We believe that the Waikato should not be treated as "second class" compared to Auckland. As Hamilton is the 4th largest city in New Zealand, it deserves modern rail services to Auckland. Despite the stance taken by David Bennett and Tim MacIndoe (and just a small handful of others), the Waikato Trains NOW! campaign is rolling on from strength to strength throughout Hamilton and the northern Waikato. Many towns along the line have NO public transport or commuter services to connect them to Auckland or Hamilton (or each other). However, they all have the railway line and station platforms close to the centre of their towns e.g. Tuakau, Te Kauwhata, Huntly and Ngaruawahia. Even towns like Mercer and Pokeno could easily serviced by passenger rail. In 2011 a petition from the town of Tuakau of over 3,000 signatures will be presented to National Party Hunua MP Paul Hutchison around April to take to Parliament. The petition asks the Government to re-establish a regular commuter rail service between Hamilton and Auckland that also services Tuakau. The petition should be heard by the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee in the second half of 2011. CBT expects that Mr Hutchison will provide a warmer reception for a petition from his electorate than David Bennett did for the large petition from his electorate. We ran a high profile campaign during the 2010 local body (council) elections in Hamilton and North Waikato Towns. A large majority of Councillors elected to the Hamilton City Council all support the service, including new Mayor Julie Hardaker. The number of councilors on Environment Waikato and the Waikato District Council who support the service also increased. Significantly this includes new Waikato District Council Mayor, Alan Sanson, and Environment Waikato Chairperson (Mayor) Peter Buckley. Voters throughout the Waikato elected councillors who support the rail service starting. Since the local body elections a number of Councils and other authorities – Auckland Transport, Environment Waikato, Hamilton City Council, KiwiRail, NZ Transport Agency, Waikato District Council, and Waipa Council - have set up a Working Group to investigate options to get the service up and running. The working Party conducted a telephone poll of over 1155 residents and rate payers in the region to gauge public support for the service. The results were pretty conclusive. 81 per cent of people supported a Hamilton-Auckland passenger rail service, 50 per cent were likely to use a service, 85 per cent of people would accept an annual rates increase of $15-$20 to pay for it and 68 per cent would accept an annual rates increase of $21-$24. The Rail Working Party is due to report its recommendations sometime around September 2011. In the mean time CBT will continue to promote the Hamilton-Auckland rail service. This includes making submissions to local councils about supporting the service. You can make an online submission: Everyone can make a submission to Environment Waikato. People who live in Hamilton can make a submission to the Hamilton City Council. People who live in the north Waikato can make a submission to the Waikato District Council.

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