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# Should Michael Wood’s New Nickname Be Blind Freddy?
- URL: https://goodoil.news/should-michael-woods-new-nickname-be-blind-freddy/
- Published: 2021-04-26T20:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2024-07-17T16:58:54.000Z
- Author: Cam Slater
- Tags: Featured, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 02:14

Michael Wood has got some moxie, for a short man. He’s [rejected the mockery that has come the way of the slow train from Hamilton to Papakura,](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/124939845/transport-minister-rejects-criticism-hamiltonauckland-train-too-slow-to-succeed?ref=goodoil.news) a train aptly named after an extinct bird:

> Transport Minister Michael Wood has rejected commentary that the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train is too slow to succeed, saying it’s already faster than a car on certain days.  
>  
> He maintained the journey, with at least a two-and-a-half-hour journey to Britomart, wasn’t too slow for commuters.  
>  
> “Sometimes this service is as fast or faster than a car, and I want to be really clear about that, because I’ve been on those journeys when you’ve been absolutely stuck, and this is more reliable.”  
>  
> Stuff

Really? With a car you can go around blockages; a train is stuck on its rails. But there is simply no way that this train is a viable alternative to a car to travel between Hamilton and Auckland.

> Wood, who spoke to *Stuff* in Hamilton while visiting the rail-served Ruakura inland port development, said he was **highly confident the service wouldn’t flop before the five-year funding was up.**  
>  
> Stuff

Bold move. It would have been cheaper to buy every commuter a new Tesla than fund the slow train running between Hamilton and Papakura…

> He reiterated Te Huia was a start-up service in only its first few weeks.  
>  
> **Potential improvements included** bringing the train to a more central stop in Auckland, **adding more services, and creating more stops in towns between the cities.**  
>  
> Stuff

Not sure how adding more stops is going to improve the speed of a slow train. They are more likely to slow it down even further.

Someone needs to tell **Michael Wood** that he’s dreamin’. Perhaps he should be nicknamed Blind Freddy.

**Please share this article so that others can discover *The BFD***