Planes and Trains in Picton

Picton Railway Station is getting a lick of paint, to the delight of some residents. Picton Railway Village Ltd director Ron Tabb said the building had last been painted 10 years ago and the current refurbishment had been on the cards since late last year, but had been delayed by bad weather. The maintenance follows a letter to the editor of The Marlborough Express in August from Picton resident Stan Main, who said the station was so dilapidated "as to be a disgrace to the town and the province". He added that the station was "totally inadequate" for the number of passengers using it in summer. Last week, Mr Main said it was looking a lot better. "A coat of paint always smartens things up." However, that didn't fix all its problems, he said. Sounds Air has its office in the railway station and manages the train and ticket sales. Managing director Andrew Crawford said it was good to see the historic building getting a paint job. "We have so few historic buildings in this country that the ones we have should be protected." A spokesperson for KiwiRail, which owns the railway platform, said there were maintenance programmes in place for all its assets. Mr Tabb said Picton Railway Village was limited in the changes it could make to the historic building, adding that painting it a different colour seemed an almost impossible objective.