The highest point on the Main North Line of the SIMT

One of the reasons that railways use much less fuel than moving the same volume of freight by road is that their gradients are kept gentle and the peaks are kept as low as possible.  Those who drive between Picton and Christchurch will be well aware of the steep climbs involved in certain areas compared with what the neighbouring railway has.  This is the highest point on the railway between Picton and Christchurch and that is a quite low 178 metres.

Of course, Steven Joyce, the Minister of Tar, wants to spends hundreds of millions of dollars on a new ferry terminal at Clifford Bay so that his truckers can avoid the Dashwood Pass area (see earlier post).  Shouldn't the freight go on the railway?  Pic from September 1999.