Midland Line

Press, 23 November 1988, Page 20

Midland Line

Sir, —I was not surprised to see the picture and report on the train derailment (November 10). If maintenance on the Midland Line is as poor as it is on the Westport-Stillwater Line we will see many more derailments. I recently counted 15 sleepers either broken or rotten in less than 150 m just north of Te Kuha. In one place three out of four consecutive sleepers were useless. In the 1950 s I spent five years on the track, so I consider myself a good judge. — Yours, L. SEYMOUR. November 11, 1988.

[The regional track engineer, Railfreight Systems, Mr R. G. Herbert, replies: “I do not believe that maintenance of track on the Midland line or the Stillwater-Westport line is as poor as Mr Seymour suggests. This year the corporation is spending more than S3.IM on the Midland line and more than SIM on the Stillwater-Westport line on track renewals of sleepers and rails. There are sleepers at various locations throughout the railway system that are, or are close to being, life-expired, but these form a small percentage of the total number of sleepers in the track. The corporation has a continuing programme to replace and maintain all lines and at no stage is track allowed to become unsafe for the traffic being carried. Over-all track standards are well above those of the 1950 s and derailments have declined continuously over recent years.”]