300 damage sites on Wairoa-Napier rail line

The Wairoa-Napier rail line hangs in mid-air at Tutira, after Cyclone Gabrielle. Picture supplied

KiwiRail cannot give a timeline on how long it will take to repair the Wairoa to Napier railline.

The rail line is part of the Palmerston North to Wairoa main truck line but was wrecked by Cyclone Gabrielle in February.

The line to Hastings reopened in early April.

“This is allowing freight to be railed to Hastings then moved by truck to Napier and Napier Port,” said KiwiRail executive general manager construction Robert Gibbes.

“Between Hastings and Napier we have made good progress in the badly flood-damaged Awatoto area. Substantial amounts of debris have been cleared, damaged sections of rail removed, and undermined rail foundations are being rebuilt.

“We are still undertaking some geotechnical investigations in the area to ensure the rail line is rebuilt resiliently and will be better able to withstand future weather events.”

A temporary repair of the Awatoto rail bridge would allow the rail line to Napier to open later this year.

“The rail line from Napier to Wairoa suffered extensive damage in Cyclone Gabrielle and we are still unable to give a timeframe for reopening it.

“We have now completed initial assessments, which have identified more than 300 damage sites. While many of these are minor, some are major — including more than 7km of rail and track foundations washed away in Eskdale and the Esk Valley. There are also some significant slips.

“We are currently working at quantifying the time, cost and material requirements for repairing the line, and are working closely with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, and the alliance team that has been put together for the East Coast cyclone transport recovery. Alliance team members are visiting damage sites along the line to ensure that planning the rebuild works is well coordinated.”