"Stationmasters" Sarah Orchard (left) and Joe MacDonald get
ready for Port Chalmers commuters tomorrow. Photo by Peter
McIntosh
For the first time in 40 years, a train will stop to pick
up passengers at the former Port Chalmers Upper railway station
tomorrow.
The occasion is the annual Walk to Work Day when a commuter
train between Waitati and Dunedin makes the walk a little
more easily achieved.
All the buildings at the Upper station site have been removed
since the station closed, but Ontrack and local volunteers
have tidied up the area and created a new sign.
To ensure all goes smoothly at the new stop, two
"stationmasters" - Sarah Orchard and Joe MacDonald - will be
on duty.
Both are members of a newly formed 50-strong Port Chalmers
group called Transition Town, which is promoting ways of
combating climate change and peak oil.
The stop at the main line Upper station will cut out a
time-consuming manoeuvre to get the train on to the Port
Chalmers line and should reduce the journey into Dunedin by
20 minutes.
The train leaves Waitati at 7.40am and stops at Michies
Crossing (7.45am), Osborne (7.55am), Purakaunui (8.00am),
Mihiwaka (8.05am), Port Chalmers Upper (8.10am), Sawyers Bay
(8.15am), Maia (8.25am) and Dunedin ( 8.40am).
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