Rail track sit-in staged

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 5

Rail track sit-in staged

PA Wellington Cook Strait ferry passengers sat on i railway tracks yesterday to prevent railway carriages gaining priority over cars and passengers on the noon Arahura sailing. The dispute arose after ferry passengers, some waiting since Monday night, did not receive assurances that their cars would be allowed on the ferry before the rail freight.

Two Canadian tourists, Brian Shelton and George Baron, who had been booked on the 6.40 p.m. ferry crossing on Tuesday, travelled all the way from Auckland to catch the ferry, only to be turned away. Mr Baron said he was ready to sit on the tracks as long as was necessary.

"The trains are not going on before us,” he said.

Mr Shelton said he had enjoyed his stay in New

Zealand “but this type of poor management reflects pretty badly on the country.”

About 100 stranded people, including many tourists, gathered outside the Searail terminal demanding to know whether they would be allowed on the noon sailing. Many travellers spent Tuesday night in cars and campervans parked in the terminal car-park and about 75 people slept in the ferry terminal building.

Tempers were smoothed when the Searail general manager, Mr Ivan Gough, made an announcement at 12.20 p.m. giving a priority list for the Arahura sailing. Priority was given to people booked on yesterday’s 10 a.m. sailing, most of the cars which had been waiting, passengers booked on Monday and Tuesday sailings, as well as perishable rail traffic.