Wanganui— Waimarino Bus Service on Trial

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 27, 2 December 1986, Page 3

Wanganui— Waimarino Bus Service on Trial

The newly-announced NZR Road Services bus timetable between Wanganui and the Waimarino is unlikely to be of much benefit to inhabitants of Ohakune and Raetihi even though the service will travel up and down the Paraparas each day. Designed to provide a service for bus passengers in transit between Wanganui and the Auckland — Wellington NZR Road Services 'Express' daylight route through the Waimarino, the Wanganui bus will leave in the morning, spend two hours in the Waimarino, and return to Wanganui in the afternoon. It will leave Wanganui at 11.15am each day to arrive in Raetihi at 1.00pm and Ohakune at l.I5pm. This will allow passengers from Wanganui to meet the northbound Wellington to Auckland service which comes through Ohakune at 1.30pm. The bus then leaves Ohakune at 3.00pm and Raetihi at 3.15 to return to Wanganui where it arrives at 5.00pm. This will allow passengers catching or alighting from the southbound Auckland to Wellington bus — due in Ohakune at 2.55pm — to connect with the bus returning to Wanganui. The new service is due to start next Sunday for a 3month trial period. NZR Road Services Wanganui branch manager, Mr Bill Greenaway, said that the new service should be popular with the Wanganui skiing community during the winter months. Asked if NZR Roacf Services were contemplating a service in the opposite direction to allow people living in the Waimarino to spend the day in Wanganui he said: "Not within the foreseeable future because the service would have to start from Ohakune or Raetihi and we have no depot or driver up there."