The growing interest and debate over providing passenger train services in Tauranga has certainly emphasised the negative attitudes of some people who don't seem to want Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty to have good transport, or services provided by the company we now all own - KiwiRail.
The failings of previous Kaimai Express service, which stopped running over 10 years ago in 2001, came from a lack of commitment and investment from both the then private owner Tranz Rail, and Environment BOP and the Tauranga City Council.
Why wasn't a decent station built at the Strand and why didn't all these parties commit to advertising and promoting the service, which would have promoted and brought tourists into the Bay of Plenty?
The service also only ran as far as Tauranga when it needed to run to Mt Maunganui. A lot has changed since that time. The Government now owns KiwiRail. Auckland now has Britomart, as well as a large new rebuilt stations at Newmarket and Papakura.
The councils and KiwiRail need to team up and trial a new daily service between Auckland and Mt Maunganui using the recently refurbished Silver Fern railcars and grow the service from there.

Graham Sinclair, Tauranga.