The fight for Gisborne's railway

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The fight for Gisborne's railway

3News NZ

Does provincial New Zealand get enough support from Wellington?

Back in March Campbell Live brought you exclusive pictures of an enormous washout on the Gisborne-to-Napier rail line.

It was a particularly cruel blow for local producers. They'd only recently shown rail could be a quick, easy, and economically viable method of getting huge amounts of produce to valuable international markets.

It's a big deal for a region that needs jobs, and they say this rail link provides those.

Since then the rail remains closed, and the prospects look bleak. So today, Gisborne residents marched to the office of the local mp, despite knowing she wouldn't be there to greet them.

They did so in order to send a simple message to the Government - the provinces are part of New Zealand too.

Watch the video to see Lachlan Forsyth’s report.

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Comments

6/09/2012 1:00:11 p.m.

Darren King wrote:

A word for the residtents of Kaiapo in canterbury. A lot of the Red Zoneing may be totally due to the council cost of rebuilding the underground inverstructure. And this is not confilned to this area.

1/09/2012 8:32:22 a.m.

David Dalton wrote:

With the country now experiencing record high fuel prices, the Government should be re-opening and upgrading the Gisborne line, not closing it. Gisborne businesses want to use rail for their exports but the Government won't provide the mere $4 million required to get the line re-opened. The Government has a responsibility and obligation to provide essential transport infrastructure. With oil being a limited and increasingly expensive resource, greater investment needs to be made in rail, not less, as rail has the ability to be electrified in the future. KiwiRail should use one of their currently unused Silver Fern railcars to start a passenger service between Wellington and Gisborne, which would provide an alternative to using cars and would bring tourists into the Gisborne region.

1/09/2012 4:57:29 a.m.

John Houghton wrote:

I was born and raised in Gisborne and I wholeheartedly support the local populace in their battle to save the rail link .It is Gisborne's lifeline with the outside world for exports and tourism. From London.

31/08/2012 10:50:25 p.m.

S wrote:

Good on them for fighting for it, it will be good for Gisborne for business + tourism which is important for Gisborne.

31/08/2012 10:40:19 p.m.

Alan Preston wrote:

KiwiRail have just released their announcement that they are going to abandon the Gisborne-Napier Line. Economic rationalist spin to justify pork barrel corruption. Welcome to the brave new Zealand. This is the strategic security of the Gisborne Region this 'government' has no right to negate.

31/08/2012 10:29:13 p.m.

M wrote:

I love your show Campbell live.

31/08/2012 9:49:18 p.m.

Tania Browne wrote:

Thank you TV3 for this article on saving the railway, I use to live in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay and remember traveling on this railway when I was a teenager. Lets hope we can save the rail.

31/08/2012 9:49:18 p.m.

Tania Browne wrote:

Thank you TV3 for this article on saving the railway, I use to live in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay and remember traveling on this railway when I was a teenager. Lets hope we can save the rail.