Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Trees pose problems following storm

Online Reporter
Wellington City Council staff will get a birds-eye view of the city today to find areas where fallen trees are still causing problems after last week's storm.
A council spokesman says members of the council's tree team will fly around the region in a helicopter to get an aerial view of the damage.
While many roads have been cleared of fallen trees, there may be some less-used roads which are still obstructed, he says.
Some of the fallen trees may have to be lifted out using a helicopter.
The public are being warned to stay away from walkways because trees could still come down without notice.
At least 50 council workers as well as contractors are working to clear downed trees from public areas, and the cleanup on the south coast is continuing.
Electricity repairs 'could take a week'
Meanwhile around 600 homes around the Wellington region are still without power and some of the region's electricity infrastructure has been more severely damaged than feared.
Wellington Electricity repair crews entered some of the worst hit areas yesterday and found the damage to the electrical network was worse than they thought.
"All indications are that restoration for this scale of damage we are encountering could take a further week of repairs," the company says in a statement.
The company has called in more than 120 additional reinforcements from Hamilton, Thames, Whangarei and Tauranga.
Wellington Electricity customers have been asked to report any downed lines and not to assume the company knows about power outages.
Crews will be working in Khandallah, Eastbourne, Belmont, Johnsonville, Tawa, Porirua and Titahi Bay today.
Transport still disrupted
Bluebridge and Interislander ferries have resumed normal schedules, while some rail services are still disrupted and are running special bus services. 
Special bus services are running in place of some rail services into and out of Wellington.
TranzMetro says express buses will travel between Wellington and Melling on an hourly timetable.
The Hutt Valley Line route will be replaced by bus between Wellington and Petone because of track repairs, but trains will run from Petone to Upper Hutt.
Buses will depart from the bus layby at Petone Station and will travel north along Hutt Rd to the Dowse interchange, then go south on State Highway 2 into Wellington.
The company is warning passengers to expect delays on the roads because of the extra traffic and buses.
It is possible some services will be cancelled with no bus replacement, TranzMetro says.
The Capital Connection service is running as normal.
Train schedules
Melling Line
  • Buses will depart Wellington hourly from 6:17am until 6:17pm.
  • Buses will depart Melling hourly from 6:39am until 6:39pm.
Hutt Valley Line
  • Train services will depart Upper Hutt for Petone at the following times (trains will meet buses for Petone to Wellington services): 10:00am, 10:30am, 11:00am, 11:30am, 12:00pm, 12:30pm, 1:00pm, 1:30pm, 2:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:00pm, 3:30pm, 4:00pm, 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm, 9:00pm, 10:00pm, 11:00pm
  • Bus services will depart Wellington for Petone at the following times (buses will meet trains for Petone to Upper Hutt services): 10:05am, 10:35am, 11:05am, 11:35am, 12:05pm, 12:35pm, 1:05pm, 1:35pm, 2:05pm, 2:35pm, 3:05pm, 3:35pm, 4:05pm, 4:35pm, 5:05pm, 5:35pm, 6:05pm, 6:35pm, 7:05pm, 7:35pm, 8:05pm, 8:35pm, 9:05pm, 10:05pm, and 11:05pm
Wairarapa southbound
  • The 10:25am service from Masterton to Wellington will be a train from Masterton to Upper Hutt, and will be replaced by bus from Upper Hutt to Wellington.
  • The 3:40pm service from Masterton to Wellington will be a train from Masterton to Upper Hutt, and will be replaced by bus from Upper Hutt to Wellington.
Wairarapa northbound
  • The 12:55pm service from Wellington to Masterton will be replaced by bus from Wellington to Upper Hutt, and will be a train from Upper Hutt to Masterton.
  • The 4:25pm service from Wellington to Masterton will be replaced by bus from Wellington to Upper Hutt, and will be a train from Upper Hutt to Masterton.
  • The 5:30pm service from Wellington to Upper Hutt is cancelled, with no bus replacement.
  • The 6:22pm service from Wellington to Upper Hutt will be replaced by bus from Wellington to Masterton.
3 News Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:10p.m.

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