Dunedin Railway Station: Activists lock themselves to tracks to block coal train
27 Jan, 2021 10:30 PM
3 minutes to read
Activists lock themselves to tracks to block coal train. Video / ODT
Otago Daily Times
Climate activists have locked themselves to the railway tracks at the Dunedin Railway Station, blocking a train transporting coal.
There are about 15 activists from Extinction Rebellion at the protest this morning. About seven people are on the tracks and two of them are physically clipped onto the tracks wearing face masks that say no to coal .
They have been here since about 6.30am.
Several police officers are also at the scene.
A freight train passes as Extinction Rebellion activists remain chained to another track. At one point during the protest a police officer checked to see if activists had face masks, minutes before two large freight trains passed just metres away. While the two trains were allowed to pass via a separate track, Al Thea said if a coal train attempted to use the same method they would “try and stop it”.
Hamish McNeilly/Stuff
A police officer keeps watch as Extinction Rebellion activists remain on tracks outside the Dunedin Railway Station. Al Thea declined to say if the group would continue protesting of this type, but said it wanted to hold KiwiRail accountable until it stopped transporting coal.