A KiwiRail ballast tamper in the South Island of New Zealand is assisting in the restoration of the Main North Line (MNL) railway linking Christchurch and Picton. The Christchurch – Picton line has a 347-km length.
“The Main North Line railway between Picton and Christchurch is a critical part of the network for moving freight between the North and South Islands. Before the earthquake, more than 1 million tonnes of freight was moved on the MNL each year,” KiwiRail Acting Chief Executive Todd Moyle.
The tamper follows maintenance trains, which are replacing ballast that was lost during the November earthquake. It packs the ballast under the sleepers and corrects the track alignment. The work it does is vital to preparing the line to re-open.
For the first time since the earthquake, in January 2017, a train was put into service on south to Lake Grassmere after extensive repairs to the Main North Line.
The Main North Line (MNL) is a railway line that runs north from Christchurch in New Zealand up the east coast of the South Island through Kaikoura and Blenheim to Picton.
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