Bus service could be better than trains—Dr Dallas

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 2

Bus service could be better than trains —Dr Dallas

Westland could benefit in some ways from the possible scrapping of long-dis-tance passenger train services, according to the Mayor of Greymouth, Dr Barry Dallas. “We have a very good scenic bus service to Westland from other regions which brings business to the various centres it stops at,” Dr Dallas said yesterday. “This service could be better enhanced if the train passenger service is dropped. It would also help make our rail link for coal between Westland and Lyttelton more efficient “Goods trains could shuttle more effectively between these two destinations without having to shunt on to sidings to give way to passenger trains,” he said. A new air service by Coast Air, soon to run twice a day between Greymouth and Christchurch, would also help fill the gap if the rail services were dropped, Dr Dallas said. “I think that it is fair enough to drop the rail service if it is uneconomic. I would rather lose that service than social services like hospital services for this region,” he said. “There still are some people who use the railcar quite a bit, but I don’t see

why they could not use a bus instead. If the coal trade to Canterbury builds up, the less passenger traffic interfering with it the better,” Dr Dallas said. The chairman of the West Coast United Council, Mr Athol McGeady, agreed with the points raised by Dr Dallas. “We have to face facts in this country as there simply are not enough taxpayers to continue running unprofitable set-ups,” Mr McGeady said yesterday. “I do think that there will be some loss to the tourist industry if tourists cannot enjoy a scenic trip to the coast, particularly from Christchurch to Arthur’s Pass, including the attractive Staircase views,” he said. N.Z.PA. reported yesterday that railwaymen reacted angrily to the suggestion by the Minister of Transport, Mr Prebble, that the Government might soon scrap long-distance railway passenger services. Mr Prebble said the future of services such as the Northerner, the Southerner, and the Endeavour would be decided early next year when the Cabinet voted on whether to buy a new fleet of modern railcars expected to cost about $2O million.

The president of me National Union of Railwaymen, Mr Garry Keating, warned Mr Prebble that railwaymen were disillusioned by Labour policy and “ready to fight” “The Minister appears to be living in a fantasy world if he thinks he can keep on fooling us with his flim-flam utterances,” Mr Keating said. He accused the Government of gaining the Treasury benches "by using the most devious' half-truth, half-lies and plain political deceit” - Promises made during Mr Prebble’s Save Rail campaign while in Opposition had been left unfulfilled, he said. The N.U.R. for the last two years had been aware that the Minister was “playing a double game” over passenger trains, but it appeared he did not have the political courage until now to publicly say that the pre-election statements were incorrect Mr Keating said. “Those people who were associated with running the Save Rail campaign will remember very vividly some of the now apparently irresponsible statements that were made,” he said.