Repair needed . . . not a rebuild

A plane unloads at Gisborne Airport while WA165 crosses the runway. Picture by Geoff Joyce

“A snapshot of the Gisborne to Wairoa railway line (images from Gisborne Rail Action Group and Gisborne City Vintage Railway) shows that most of the line remains in good condition with only some sleeper replacements, culvert clearing, basic bridge maintenance, and other maintenance work needed,” says Ms Ward.

“The railway line should be repaired and brought back into commercial use as soon as possible. Whether the line is upgraded is a consideration for the new government sometime later. Any funds spent on the line now are an investment for the future.”

Gisborne City Vintage Railway (GCVR) has invested heavily into track and bridge maintenance on the line between Gisborne and Muriwai over the last few years.

Geoff Joyce, chair of GCVR, says: “We like to think that the historic steam train punches well above its weight in terms of tourism visibility and contribution to our region. However, we are not able to sustain these expenses.

“Everyone involved with resurrecting and running this iconic tourist attraction, literally starting from the scrap heap — those who have dedicated tens of thousands of hours of labour, the community, and generous private benefactors and grant funders — have all invested too much enthusiasm and effort to surrender this now,” says Mr Joyce.

“For GCVR the reality is that if the railway line is not reinstated and reopened for commercial use, and the maintenance of the line is not undertaken by the government or a commercial freight operator, we will not be able to continue to run the steam train.”

The expanding horticultural and agricultural production from the Gisborne region, mostly destined for export — apples, persimmons, sweetcorn, squash, kiwifruit, and lamb — is the primary driver for reinstating the railway line, with current demand estimated as a 24-wagon train carrying containerised freight, supplemented by logs, five days a week, throughout the year, with increases expected year on year.

In addition to commercial use, excursion trains would bring many rail-oriented tourists to Gisborne, and Wa165 could continue to run local trips. One feature which attracts rail enthusiasts is that Gisborne Airport is one of the few airports in the world that has a railway line crossing the main runway.

The advice from the experienced rail engineers (the same ones who advise KiwiRail), after detailed work on the ground, is that the rail formation and structures are sound.

The largest cost area of the PGF-funded BERL Turanga (Gisborne) ki Wairoa Rail Feasibility Study, was the detailed track and engineering assessment, including detailed design and costs. KiwiRail engineering and freight operations staff were involved in this feasibility study and provided the KiwiRail Review of Structure Assets (including bridges and tunnels) report that is one of the attachments to the main report. [https://berl.co.nz/research/reconnecting-gisborne]

The line between Waikokopu and Gisborne was built in the 1930s by the Public Works Department at a time when they had extensive experience of railway line construction. Constructed through the rugged and challenging Wharerata hill country, it was well-designed and built to last (given basic maintenance). It is one of the youngest lines in the country and the steel rail does not show a lot of wear.

The line was carrying a lot of freight, and this was increasing, at the time the storm damage occurred in 2012.

In 2011, in response to years of requests from local produce growers, KiwiRail upgraded the railway line to make it compatible for hi-cube containers. Then, from December 2011 to March 2012 there were three fully-loaded trains per week, each carrying 16x40ft chilled containers of fresh produce from Gisborne packhouses, and several general freight wagons as well, running directly to Napier's export container port.

Ms Ward says “Unfortunately, the line did not have time to prove its potential before five dropouts occurred in March 2012 — at the embankments at Wharekakaho Stream, Beach Loop southern end, Waiherere Stream, and the Tikiwhata Stream tributary, and of the track formation just south of the Railway Road crossing.

“A sixth dropout occurred in heavy rain in May 2015 at the embankment just north of tunnel no. 16, a reminder of the risks from delays in getting basic maintenance work done,” she says.

“Since 2012 a lot of emphasis has been focused on the damaged parts of the line. But, while one of the dropouts, the Tikiwhata stream tributary embankment washout, is particularly dramatic, each is repairable. Engineering designs for their repair are shown in an attachment to the BERL report, by Fraser Geologics Ltd.”

Railway line Wairoa to Gisborne: 94km

• Track damaged by washouts: 350m, less than 0.5 percent of the line's length

• Other minor track damage, slips etc: 2.5km, 2.6 percent of the line's length

(Neil Buchanan, Rail Engineer)

“There is a discrepancy between the estimated costs of reopening the line stated by the BERL study and the recently-reported comments by KiwiRail CEO Greg Miller.”

According to the Gisborne Rail Action Group, the reason for this is that while the BERL study recommends the rail line be reinstated — repaired and maintained on the existing formation based on the current 16 tonne axle loading — KiwiRail CEO Greg Miller has said he would prefer the project, if it goes ahead, to be a complete rebuild based on an 18 tonne axle loading.

The total cost to reinstate the railway line for train operations including allowing for additional resilience work, a new transport hub at Matawhero, and contingencies has been put at $36 million with the work to be undertaken by local contractors. This is the “shovel-ready” regional Covid-19 Recovery project that Gisborne District Council and Hawke's Bay Regional Council have requested to be funded by the government, says Ms Ward.

“Also, in Tairawhiti we are very aware of the lives that were lost during the construction of the last section of this railway line. There is a monument near Waiau Stream to commemorate these lives lost.

“The Gisborne Rail Action Group (GRAG) believes the railway line to Gisborne through the Wharerata hills is exceptional in its engineering design and construction.

“It is really extraordinary that we still have this infrastructure and it is in such good condition — it is a gift from an earlier generation, that we need to value and use as it was intended to be used.

“To have the railway line repaired would enable horticultural development, enhance social wellbeing, improve safety on SH2, guarantee Wa165's survival as an iconic tourist attraction, and would reduce the region's use of fossil fuels and our CO2 emissions,” Ms Ward says.