COAST SERVICES DISRUPTED

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31317, 13 March 1967, Page 1

COAST SERVICES DISRUPTED

The railway linking Christchurch with the West Coast will be open to traffic today after being disrupted by torrential rain on Friday and Saturday.

The normal Christchurch to Ross rail-car service will resume this morning although it is not known yet whether the line between Hokitika and Ross will be clear. A balancing service from the West Coast to Christchurch will also operate this morning. Railway repair gangs were out all day yesterday clearing and repairing the main link between Christchurch and Greymouth. The worst damage was on a 20-mile section between Aickens and Te Kinga. Work parties operating from Poerua and Greymouth were making repairs until dark last night and will be back at work at first light today.

A Railways spokesman said in Christchurch yesterday that rail traffic to the West Coast had been cut since early Saturday morning. Passengers booked on the nil-car services to and from' Greymouth last night were taken by bus over the Lewis Pass. A rail-car went to Otira yesterday to pick up trampers who had spent the week-end in the mountains.

Rail services north of Greymouth have not been affected by the weather. All lines in Canterbury have remained open. The chief engineer of the North Canterbury Catchment Board (Mr E. B. Dalmer) said last night that the Rakaia and Waimakariri rivers had subsided considerably yesterday. On Saturday the Rakaia reached a peak of 12ft above normal, flooding a picnic area on the north side of the main road bridge and the road itself to a depth of about 2ft 6in.

At the Rakaia mouth the flooding which swept into the settlement had subsided by noon yesterday. The Waimakariri reached a peak of Bft 6in above normal at the gorge on Saturday, but by noon yesterday had fallen sft 6in. The level at the highway bridge rose 9ft above normal but was down to sft yesterday. Mr Dalmer said no damage had been reported, and at most there would probably be only minor maintenance work to be done.

Although the heavy rain in the ranges on Friday evening and Saturday caused flooding of the major rivers in the Ashburton County no damage was reported. Rainfall in Ashburton from late Friday evening until early Sunday morning was 1.13 in. It caused the cancellation of tennis, cricket, and other sports. The Rakaia and Rangitata

rivers were swollen. Water flowed over the banks of the

Rakaia into some low-lying areas, including a small portion of land on the north side of the main traffic bridge at

the height of the flood on Saturday evening.

No trouble occurred along the Ashburton river, although it flowed several feet above normal. All rivers dropped substantially yesterday.