In November 2021, a business case called the Lower North Island Rail Mobility, was presented to the Government recommending a $762 million investment in a fleet of hybrid electric trains for the Wairarapa and Manawatu lines to replace the current Capital Connection and Wairarapa Connection train services. \
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The Lower North Island Rail Mobility business case missed out on a funding boost at the 2022 Budget, leaving uncertainty to the ongoing funding of the Capital Connection train service which is popular with commuters and offers a solution to limiting climate change. \
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Horizons Regional Council Chair Rachel Keedwell was ‘gobsmacked’. “We can’t continue on business as usual and hope that \[climate change] goes away, or hope that it’s not as bad as everyone’s saying. “We actually have to do something, and this is one step – you know – actually fund the infrastructure that we need and stop funding the infrastructure that we don’t need.”
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The full article is available on [NZ Herald](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/local-focus-capital-connections-fight-for-survival/JLXGYYPKN6HWXGC73ZCECUEXWM/).
