Скачать или смотреть The day the trains came back

A message from our Mayor from the KiwiRail ceremony to mark the arrival of the first freight train since the earthquake.

Quoting Winston Churchill our Mayor Winston Gray said "when the going gets tough, the tough keep going".

There are many months of hard work to come. However with the train arriving and the sun shining, the morning was a chance to mark the progress so far, made possible through the hard work and extraordinary commitment of hundreds of our locals and the temporary high-vis army of NCTIR workers moving mountains to help us out.

The rail rebuild is thought to be the largest programme of rail work since World War Two and the return of freight trains is estimated to take 2000 trucks a month off the Alternative Route roads.

The ceremony included the unveiling of a sculpture by a local artist Ben Foster from train tracks twisted by the quake. It will find a permanent home in the town helping everyone to remember not only the power and the devastation of the quake but also the power of our spirits and our ability to rebuild.