New tracks, same old woes for the troubled Wairarapa train line.
After years of reduced-speed trains, bus replacements, delays and general unreliability while a years-long upgrade took place – the big slow-down is back.
This time, because the newly laid tracks in Wairarapa are too narrow and causing vibrations on the train.
It’s a situation that won’t impress thousands of commuters. Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter said passengers from the region were fed up with their second-class status.
“Wairarapa passengers have had to put up with a lot over the last few years with the promise that better times were coming. But now they are faced with more work to get this, and other parts of the line, up to a fit standard.”
Areas within a 16km section of track near Featherston were found to have been laid on average 4mm narrower.
