A rail advocacy group says new trains in the lower North Island are a good start, but there is room to do more.
Eighteen new hybrid trains will be deployed to Kāpiti Coast and Wairarapa, to replace the current ones that date back to the 1970s.
The trains will operate using electric wires, batteries, and fuel, in an effort to reduce emissions.
Save Our Trains spokesperson, Paul Callister, said the announcement was positive news but trains were currently in hot demand across the globe so New Zealanders would be waiting a while for them to arrive.
“It’s not going to be quick, I mean they’re not going to arrive tomorrow, this is a long-term investment,” he said.
“We’ve got to get in the queue.”
Callister wanted to see improvements to passenger rail in other parts of the country too.
