Line almost set for trains to run again
The railway from Picton to Christchurch is reconnected and should reopen within the month.
Yesterday, the line was symbolically welded together.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the ‘‘huge milestone’’ was ‘‘a credit to the more than 1500 people involved in the project’’.
‘‘On the rail side 150 kilometres of line has been tamped and made ready for trains . . . 5000 new concrete sleepers have been laid, the formation under 12 kilometres of track has been rebuilt and 5km of track has been realigned,’’ he said.
‘‘This has been a mighty effort and the reward is that the track should open to freight within a month, well ahead of schedule.’’
The initial opening would be restricted to low-speed, low- frequency services. Freight services would initially run at night, so railway and road repairs could continue during the day, Reidy said.
Last November’s earthquake caused major damage to about 60 sites along the rail line, including tunnels, bridges and embankments.
The line reopening would take pressure off the alternate road, which has been the main route to shift freight south since the earthquake.
‘‘Even with the restrictions that will be in place, we still expect that up to 2000 trucks a month could be taken off the roads,’’ Reidy said.
The Main North Line carried about 1 million tonnes of freight annually before the earthquake.
A sizeable amount of work remained to return the line to its pre-earthquake state, Reidy said.
The link will not be fully operational until mid-2018.