Closing of Ross rail line criticised

Press, 28 November 1979, Page 3

Closing of Ross rail line criticised

> . Greymouth reporter I i The Chairman of the West | Coast United Council (Mr C. .H. McLellan) is perturbed • that the Railways Department decided to close the Hokitika-Ross railway line without consulting his council. Mr McLellan said that the i regional council had been set up by the Government and were required to produce draft regional schemes. ■ This had been done by the West Coast council, but the : Railways Department, without consultation, had decided i to eliminate part of a vital ■ transport system. Such a move would throw more transport back on to the roads, he said. He expected to approach the Minister of Railways (Mr McLachlan) on the matter, and the Minister of Local Government (Mr Higher). “A total lack of planning and confidence in the region,” was the comment by the president of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce (Mr J. D. Huston) on the department’s announcement.

“It has been obvious for some time that the Hokitika road-rail bridge must deteriorate, and because of a lack of planning in maintenance and the future of the route it has become necessary to deliver sour medicine with a sweet spoon,” he said.

“Without recourse by the Railways Department to the West Coast United Council, or the Town and Country Planning Act — from which the department is apparently absolved — the withdrawal of sections of the main transport system is mute evidence of the lack of foresight.” Mr Huston said that to suggest that the HokitikaRoss line would continue to run at a loss did not take into account the potential of the Kokiri regional abattoir and meat-packing works for land development. The elimination of the Ross line would mean higher road transport costs because of the new prices for diesel. The General Manager of Railways (Mr T. M. Hayward) had said that SSM w'ould be needed to replace the road-rail bridge, and that that was impossible. “That is small thinking when the cost of just a few hundred metres of the Wellington motorway, which is built for a city’s convenience, cannot be diverted to a major provincial route,” Mr Huston said.

The secretary of the Greymouth branch of the National Union of Railwaymen (Mr T. J. Isherwood) yesterday expressed fears that South Westland freight would be switched from rail to road. He said that the announcement had come without warning, “and we were amazed when Mr Hayward said that the bridge could not be maintained beyond March next. “Mr Hayward told us that there were 100 major faults with the bridge and twice as many faults in others. He said that the standard of the bridge was atrocious, which goes to show that the denartment’s maintenance programme 'is not' up to scratch,” Mr Isherwood said. The department could lose the right to carry freight from South Westland. The two main timber suppliers in South Westland, Henderson and Pollard, at Ruatapu, and Paynter and Hamilton, at Harihari and Whataroa, could switch exclusively to road transport, he said. The closing would be discussed by the union at a meeting on Sunday and recommendations could thee be made to Wellington.