The Government is allocating $13 million for geotechnical work to improve rail and road transport in and out of Greymouth.
It comes after a major slip at Omoto in October last year which closed the rail line and State Highway 7 between Christchurch and Greymouth for more than a month.
Funding for the project was set aside in Budget 2020 and forms part of the $90 million allocated to infrastructure in the region.
“The rail line to Greymouth brings more than 80,000 tourists into the region each year, and gets the equivalent of 50,000 truckloads of exports to port. It’s a vital part of the regional economy,” infrastructure minister Shane Jones says.
It comes after a 100 metre slip at Omoto in October 2019 closed the rail line and State Highway 7 between Christchurch and Greymouth for more than a month.
Though there are alternative road routes to the West Coast, the slip stopped the popular TranzAlpine tourist train reaching Greymouth and prevented freight leaving the region by rail.
KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller says work will now take place on hillside stabilisation measures which were urgently needed for the region.
The work is expected to support around 20 local jobs which will include local contractors and suppliers.
It involves the installation of horizontal drains between internal layers of the hillside, which will remove water, and the installation of in-ground piles/retaining structures to tie the top sliding layer and the bottom layer together.
“No company is more Kiwi than KiwiRail and we focus whenever we can on supporting local businesses, whether they are importers, exporters, suppliers or our valued tourism partners,” Miller says.
