Christchurch rail may force private land sale

Environment Canterbury (ECan) staff and councillors have discussed the legality of using the Public Works Act to buy properties to make way for a train network should commuter rail gain political and community support.

The discussions follow the release last month of an ECan-funded feasibility study into five options for rail in the region that estimates the cost of building rail infrastructure at between $55 million and $690m.

ECan chairman Sir Kerry Burke said the possibility of using the act to buy land had arisen during talks about ECan's plans between 2006 and 2016.

"Even though we are only at the early stages of (considering) passenger rail, we felt that if we are thinking in a 10-year time-frame, then something should be signalled," he said.

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