Six country railway stations to close

Press, 28 November 1980, Page 2

Six country railway stations to close

Six country railway sta- 1 tions are likely to close in < the Canterbury district be- i fore the end of the year, 1 according to the Railways I assistant district traffic 1 manager in Christchurch, Mr i D. J. Bradley. Sheffield, Dunsandel, 1 Brunham Cora Lym. (near Arthur's Pass), St Andrews, t and Glenavy will shut. This 1 brings to about 40 the num- i ber of stations closed in the ; Canterbury railway district, 1 which stretches from the ; Waitaki River to Nelson and ! the West Coast, since 1978. i New Zealand Railways is i closing smaller stations t throughout the country and focusing facilities on larger i centres. Springfield and Dar- 1 field will be the main points < on the West Coast line and Rolleston and Rakaia on the < Main South line. I “Most of the freight carried is bulk and we have to have the facilities to ; handle these large loads,” Mr Bradley said. In the last five years !

there has been a marked decrease in goods handled at smaller stations. In 1976, Dunsandel moved 2854 tonnes, compared with 644 tonnes this year. Bumham slipped from 2280 tonnes to 165 - tonnes, and Sheffield from 1753 tonnes to 449. The six stations proposed to be closed are unattended. Burnham is the only one which will not be closed to all traffic, as Burnham Military Camp will use a siding for private purposes. Cora Lynn was closed in 1978 to everything except passenger traffic but this facilitiy will also be lost. St Andrews and Glenavy will close on December 21. No definite date has been set for the closing of the other four stations. “We have written to Federated Farmers, county and borough councils, and other interested parties expressing our intention to close these stations, giving them an opportunity to comment on the proposed closings,” Mr Bradley said.