Down at the Station

摘要

Standing on the platform with notebook and pen in hand, Graeme Carter has observed the following. Also on the platform were Ken Hay dock, Bruce Taylor, Bryan Blanchard, Basil Hutchinson, Dave Turner and Rob Merrifield. On 4October Kiwi Rail announced that it was mothballing the Napier-Gisborne line after an assessment of the line's future potential established that revenue would fall substantially short of costs. Costs included repairs to storm damage earlier in the year and ongoing maintenance. As well as the $4 million repair costs another $4 to $8 million a year would need to be spent to bring the line to a standard that would not need major expenditure during the next 10 years or beyond. In the past year, the line has carried around 44,000 tonnes of freight but between 400,000 and 800,000 tonnes a year was needed to make the line viable.