There is no doubt that Richard Young – candidate for the Paekākāriki-Raumati Ward – is passionate about getting people onto trains. In his latest post on his slightly irreverent Richard Young for Kāpiti Facebook page he sets out his stall on all trains great and small.
“With the new Capital Connection train due to arrive on platforms early next year, if elected I’d advocate for it to add Paekākāriki as a stop. This will provide an express commuter service that serves all of Kāpiti’s communities. That service is the only peak service that allows people to take their bicycles to Wellington, so it will give the commuters of Paekākāriki the same car-free commuting option that others in Kāpiti already enjoy.”
Mr Young says it’s not rocket science or an earth-shattering reinvention, but rather a way of getting a whole lot more value from something we already have – another way to do things once and do them right.
Mr Young does have a solid track record of experience when it comes to railways, his Kāpiti based engineering company provides passenger safety technology in Auckland’s Britomart Station, it assisted in designing how the Snapper system will be deployed across the Metlink network and on most Sunday’s you can see him with his train driver’s hat on in Marine Gardens Raumati driving Kāpiti’s iconic ‘little trains’.
“The Kāpiti Minature Railway is one of our district’s busiest visitor attractions with over a thousand people on a summer Sunday. Through chatting to them it’s clear that a large number travel to Raumati especially for their eight minutes of joy as the trains travel around the gardens and glimpses Kāpiti Island. In all respect’s we are a real railway and popular visitor attraction – proudly run by volunteers.”
He says driving trains around Marine Gardens has inspired him to question the purpose of the abandoned swimming pool, and why it is being allowed to remain. He believes that the land could be used to expand Marine Gardens to the beach. In his latest video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BAIPkk1Bh0 he shows how this could enhance the park and bring more visitors to Raumati.
