CLEARANCE TODAY: NAPIER-GISBORNE ROAD JOURNEY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23023, 13 August 1949, Page 6

CLEARANCE TODAY: NAPIER-GISBORNE ROAD JOURNEY

SOUTH RAIL LINK

Railway communication with Napier was expected to return to something like normal today, and an assurance can be given that by Monday the services will be running on schedule providing no new break In the weather occurs.

Railwaymen and travellers have experienced a bad week, and although the weather took up yesterday the work gangs on the Gisborne-Napier line had not seen the last of their troubles. Fresh Fall at Paritu Loop

Yesterday afternoon fresh falls of debris in the neighbourhood of Paritu loop—the locality where the original blockage occurred early last Tuesday—put the Gisborne-Wairoa section out of commission, while wet conditions at the Raupunga slip continued to hamper the work of clearing the line at that point.

The new falls at Paritu forced the Railways Department to hold back the railcar service scheduled for yesterday afternoon, and it was not until 9.15 a.m. today that the cars were sent off. There was a possibility that they would be held up for a time at Paritu, but a gang of men was working there from an early hour and it was hoped the line would be serviceable as far as Wairoa when the cars were dispatched. North-bound passengers were obliged to travel all the way from Napier to Gisborne by road-service last evening, three cars completing the journey at 12.12, 12.25 and 1.42 a.m. respectively. Motor-trucks were pressed into service for the conveyance of passengers’ luggage and urgent light freight. Road-Lift Extended Overnight Express passengers booked for this morning’s dispatch southwards from Gisborne were lifted by road-bus with a prospect of travelling to Napier by road. Renorts from Raupunga indicated that the line probably would be cleared during the day, and that it might be possible to get railcars through in the afternoon. This possibility was dependent, however, on the walls of the collapsed cutting near Raupunga standing up. At other points on the GisborneNapier line where trouble has been experienced during the week a total clearance has been made. The culvert which was washed out at Waikoau has been restored temoorarily, and once the Raupunga slip is cleared railway officials can look forward to a relaxation from the emergency of the past few days.