Meeting Howard train conversion

Press, 9 April 1981, Page 24

Meeting Howard train conversion

PA Wellington Railways officials and rail union leaders will visit Auckland soon to pave the way for conversion work on the Silver Star express. The train has been idle since June 1979, awaiting conversion from an allsleeper to a part-sleeper, C-seater. Rail unions led work on the train after it was found to be insulated with blue asbestos, which is considered a cancer risk. Since then, work has been held up by a variety of reasons, including industrial disputes, discussions on the safety procedures for handling asbestos, and the absence of Government approval for money to be spent on the job. Both the union objections and the safety procedures have now been resolved. The only outstanding issue is the rate to be paid for men working with the asbestos. The Railways Department has agreed in principle to pay a “discomfort allowance* for staff who have to wear breathing apparatus. The railways’ deputy general manager, Mr Gordon Purdy, will visit the Auckland rail workshop with ropresentativas of three unions

— the National Union of Railwaymen, the Railway Tradesmen’s Association, and the Railway Officers’ Institute — to settle the rate. The next step will be to strip one of the Silver Star’s carriages to see how much work is involved in the conversion. The results of this test will form the bash of a cost estimate to the Government, which must then decide whether to allow the whole job to proceed.