Rain may have put many people off walking or biking to work
yesterday, but 100 delighted and dry passengers took a Taieri
Gorge Railway train into Dunedin for World Car Free Day.
Passenger Justine Dallamore, who caught the train from
Purakaunui, said the trip was "beautiful" and "quite
relaxing".
She wished it was a regular service.
Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin was on hand to greet passengers and
accepted flowers from Danielle Cameron, of the Get the Train
group, who expressed appreciation for the Dunedin City
Council-subsidised trip.
"It's wonderful they put this on," she said.
The group would like to the council to get involved and run
the train as public transport.
DCC safe and sustainable travel co-ordinator Charlotte
Flaherty believed the day had great support in the city,
"given the weather conditions".
Other groups to take part were Living Streets, which provided
free "fuel" in the form of biscuits to walkers in the Octagon
at lunchtime; Spokes Dunedin, which fixed bicycles for
cyclists; and Students for Environmental Action, which cooked
pancakes at a free breakfast for walkers and cyclists.
World Car Free Day has been celebrated across four continents
since 2000 and aims to reclaim city streets and show how
cities might look, feel, and sound without cars.
- ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz
• Photos by Stephen Jaquiery; prints available from otagoimages.co.nz
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