THE MIDLAND LINE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17037, 10 May 1923, Page 9

THE MIDLAND LINE.

REPAIR WORK STARTS. A FORTNIGHT'S HOLD-UP. Repair work has started on the Midland line. The progress made will depend on weather conditions, but, even at the best, there will be no train service between Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass for two weeks. Official reports received at noon stated that, in addition to the serious slip near Otarama, past Springfield, where 150 feet ot rails have been left unsupported, the mouth of one of the small tunnels, number eight, has been blocked with mud and stones. Between tunnels nine and ten the foundations of the line have been carried away for a distance of 132 feet, and below these is a sheer drop to the gorge of thirty feet. It will take a week to repair the damage here alone. To overcome the difficulty caused by the gap at Otarama, the line will be reconstructed and carried along a route seventy feet from the site of the old line. A cutting ten feet deep will be made for the purpose. So that work may he carried out with all dispatch, arrangements hare been made to send a relief train from Greymouth through the Arthur’s Pass tun nel. Operations can then he put : n band at both ends of the series of slips.