Repair crews have been on the job for the past fortnight but finally the Marton-New Plymouth rail link is back in business.
The line through Wanganui was one of several around the country KiwiRail had to deal with after the weather bomb blasted through the central North Island on the weekend of June 20-21, causing devastating floods in the city and across the rural hinterland.
The torrential rain caused flooding, slips and washouts, closing the line until it was re-opened on Sunday. Trains were back in action yesterday.
Todd Moyle, KiwiRail group general manager network services, told the Chronicle that staff and contractors had worked continuously to carry out what he called a "significant clean-up and repair" job.
Mr Moyle said it was not only confined to the Marton-New Plymouth line. Track through Wairarapa, the North Island Main Trunk, and the Palmerston North to Gisborne link was also affected. And there had also been storm damage affecting rail services on the West Coast.
He said while most lines were restored within days, the damage on the Marton-New Plymouth line, especially between Wanganui and Hawera, was more extensive, with multiple slips undermining the line.
"The work to fix the track included building retaining walls to prevent any further subsidence, clearing debris, fixing signals, and replacing ballast which has been washed away from underneath the rail," Mr Moyle said.
While repairs were being done he said KiwiRail worked with affected customers to move their freight by rail where possible, and by road where the rail lines were closed.
"To meet our customers' freight needs, we used a combination of road and rail, or 'road-bridging' to transport freight between Palmerston North and New Plymouth. In some cases, where freight was too heavy for road, KiwiRail stored it at our yards until the lines re-opened."
He said when there were disruptions KiwiRail dealt directly with the customers affected and maintained regular daily conference calls to monitor the situation.
"As we get booking requests from customers, our team call them and offer solutions tailored to their requirements and using rail where possible to keep costs down."
Mr Moyle said as lines were re-opened and freight could be moved it sometimes meant running more wagons to clear the backlog of freight.
But he said the job was not completely finished yet and the Wanganui line would be subject to on-going monitoring.