Description: The campaign to bring fast, frequent, and climate friendly commuter rail services to all of the Kāpiti Coast and Horowhenua through electrification and double tracking to Ōtaki and Levin, and the purchasing of electro-diesel hybrid trains for the Capital Connection between Palmerston North and Wellington.
Transmission Gully and the expressway projects between Mackays Crossing and Levin are quite literally driving a doubling of population growth in Kāpiti and Horowhenua. To meet this growth, especially with increasing numbers of daily commuters heading into Wellington City, it’s vital that fast, frequent, and climate friendly commuter rail services are extended to keep up with demand.
Between 2013 and 2018 nearly 10,000 more people moved to the Kāpiti Coast and Horowhenua, more than doubling the previous growth rates for the region. This growth helped contribute to a more than 9 percent increase in morning peak commuter rail growth on the Kāpiti train line in 2019. Since 2016, there has been a 60 percent increase in boardings and alightments from trains at Waikanae alone.
This growth has largely been driven by people from Wellington, Porirua, and the Hutt Valley seeking relatively more affordable housing, infrastructure projects like Transmission Gully and the expressways improving north-south connectivity, and the irresistible lure of our fantastic relaxed beach and rural lifestyles and naturally better climate.