Rail decision upsets lobby group 

A transport lobby group is concerned over KiwiRail's decision to mothball the rail line between Taranaki and the Waikato.

Campaign for Better Transport spokesman Jon Reeves says it could be the thin end of the wedge, with more closures to come.

He says milk sourced from Fonterra farms in Taranaki and bound for Tauranga will now travel hundreds of kilometres further, via Marton, rather than directly from Stratford.

KiwiRail says repairing the line in the wake of a recent derailment, at a cost of $400,000, can't be justified given that only one return train a day has been using the line.

But Reeves says the reason it is so little used is because it has been let go and is in very poor condition.

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