Stratford-Okahukura Line
Saturday the 30th of April,2011
The AGM of the Taranaki Flyer will discuss what action to take to prevent the closure of the Stratford Okahukura Line
Peter Hancock: Taranaki Flyer Society Phone: 06 7551255 or 06 7546695 ngamihi@xtra.co.nz
Click on these links for NEWS, EVENTS and things TO BE ACTIONED specifically related the
The Stratford-Okahukura Line
Have a look at where the Stratford-Okahukura line actually goes here
To read something about the history of rail in the area click here
There is some discussion on Stratford-Okahukura Line on the Greens' Frogblog forum here
on the Better Transport forum here and here
on RailPage forums here
The Stratford To Okahukura Line fact sheet on Wikipedia and on Better Transport NZ
Okahukura Station
20091127 Views on fixing rail sought Taranaki Daily News
20090202 End of the Line for Stratford Okahukura Line Taranaki Daily News
The 142-kilometre-long network is all but closed because it needs $10 million in repairs to bring it back to an acceptable standard.
The line has been closed since November 2009, after a serious derailment damaged 9.5km of track. It had been operating as a freight-only line at that time.
KiwiRail has signalled the line that links Taranaki with the North Island main trunk line near Taumarunui will remain mothballed, at least until 2012.
KiwiRail chief executive Jim Quinn says minor lines that carry little or no traffic will only survive if they can prove their worth or have an anchor customer waiting in the wings.
Taranaki Flyer Society trustee Peter Hancock said uniting on a national level was a "brilliant idea".
"The issue is political so the more voices we have the better."
He said the key was rising fuel prices which would make rail the obvious transport choice in the future.
He said tracks like the Stratford- Okahukura line needed to be maintained because eventually the Government would need them again.
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