Slumping West Coast road remains closed, with tourist train blocked

Friday, 4 October 2019

The TranzAlpine is regarded by many as one of the world's great train journeys.

A slip near Greymouth has caused road and rail closures and raised concerns about a downturn in business.

The active slip between Greymouth and Stillwater at Omoto has been moving since mid August but heavy rain on Thursday forced the closure of a section of State Highway 7, the main road linking Reefton and Greymouth, and the rail line until at least Tuesday.

KiwiRail has been stopping the TranzAlpine at Arthur's Pass and offering buses for people wanting to continue on to the West Coast.

The railway line has been damaged by a slip causing the TransAlpine train to stop running to Greymouth.

Grey District Business Promotions Association chairman Phillip Barnett, who owns Greymouth i-Site, said the train brought valuable business to Greymouth.

More people would hop on a bus to the glaciers and bypass town as a result, he said. It was already having an impact, Barnett said.

The highway on Thursday afternoon, as crews attempt to re-level the surface.

'We can only trust in the experts and hope that they give it the utmost urgency,' he said.

KiwiRail South Island operations general manager Jeanine Benson said the extent of the problem was still being assessed because the slip was still moving.

The slip in on State Highway 7, the road between Reefton and Greymouth.

It was working on a long-term plan with NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to stabilise the area, she said. The situation will be reassessed on Monday.

The cost of the remediation was not known, Benson said.

Slumping over the past 24 hours is highly visible at this site, which has closed SH7 at Omoto east of Greymouth.

NZTA maintenance contract manager Moira Whinham said the landslide was showing no signs of slowing down.

It had moved another 30 centimetres from 8am on Wednesday, and another 50cm on Thursday.

Traffic is being diverted through Taylorville, which added only a few minutes to the journey between Greymouth and Reefton.

She said the slip had been on the move since mid August after wet weather and subsequent land saturation. At that stage it had been closed to one lane.

'We are considering a number of medium and long-term remedial options, working closely with KiwiRail and our geotechnical advisors on a solution for both the rail and the road. But, we need the ground to stop moving before these can be put in place.'

'At this stage the best thing we can do is to continue to monitor the rate of slip movement, keep the highway closed and the detour in place, for everyone's safety.'