In New Zealand, it seems to be a case of a Tale of Two Islands, at least when it comes to public transport investment. And even roading barely gets a look in. It’s time for the South Island to get some public transport love. \
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While the North Island may dominate population and economic activity, that economic activity would quickly grind to a halt if not for electricity from the lower South Island. The South Island also has many of the crown jewels in New Zealand’s tourism crown. For New Zealand to function sustainably, all parts of New Zealand need sustainable transport choices, not just the cores of a few of the largest North Island cities. \
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There has been a recent decision by the new coalition government – sometimes disparagingly referred to as the “coalition of clowns” have pulled the plug on new, larger, more sustainable interisland ferries, connecting the north and south islands. If you dive just beneath the surface, it seems plausible that a motivation for casting the South Island adrift is hostility by the new government to rail-enabled ferries. If we want rail to be the backbone of sustainable mobility in New Zealand, then cutting it off mid-spine would not appear to be a good way to go about that.
