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Anti-mining protesters say they will continue to disrupt coal trains after two people were arrested yesterday for blocking the rail link across the South Island.
And managers of the rail network, Ontrack, admit they are powerless to stop people who are determined to block the trains.
The pair who locked themselves on to the railway line at Templeton, on the outskirts of Christchurch, were dug out with help from the Fire Service and taken away by police. They are due appear in court today.
Other protesters from the Save Happy Valley Coalition swarmed over a stalled train and hung a 22m banner from it which read: "Solid Energy: Govt Sponsored Climate Chaos".
The protest blocked the line for 3 hours, delaying a coal train.
The coalition's action was in protest against continued coal mining on the West Coast by state-owned Solid Energy, but has been widely condemned as "irresponsible".
Coalition spokesman Graham Jury said that as long as coal mining continued and the country's biodiversity was affected, action like yesterday's protest would continue.
Inspector Rick Jury of the Christchurch police said the protest wasted time and resources of the police and Fire Service "that could have been used attending genuine emergencies".
Solid Energy spokeswoman Vicki Blyth said yesterday's action was another in a long line of "irresponsible and illegal protests by this group". The company would not know until today whether it suffered financial loss.
Ontrack spokesman Kevin Ramshaw said the company had no issue with people exercising their right to protest.
"But we do take exception to people putting other people's safety at risk and creating inconvenience," Mr Ramshaw said.
"It is impossible to make sure the rail network is secure up and down the country. That's something we have to live with."
Graham Jury said climate change was already occurring and coal mining was helping fuel it.
"Earlier this year New Zealand finally reached the end of the line for coal-fired power stations," he said.
"It must also be the end of the line for coal mining."
