First work train rolls on Wairoa to Napier rail line

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Trains are moving again on the Wairoa-Napier line today for the first time in six years.

KiwiRail estimates that using the line to move forestry logs could take more than 5500 trucks a year off the road, and cut carbon emissions by 1292 tonnes.

KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said the line was expected to be ready for logging trains by the end of the year.

“Today sees a work train travelling up to Eskdale from Napier, delivering ballast — the first time there has been a train on the line since 2012,” he said.

“The re-opening of the Wairoa-Napier line is one of the first to be funded from the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, and would not have happened without it.

“Having work trains running is an important part of getting the line open to shift logs by rail and take trucks off the road.

“It helps the environment by cutting carbon emissions. Every tonne of freight carried by rail is a 66 percent emissions saving over heavy road freight.”

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Napier Port and KiwiRail entered into a commercial agreement in 2016 to reopen the line for the first time since it closed in 2012.

The line was mothballed after a section of track at the Beach Loop area was badly damaged in a storm earlier that year.

As part of the agreement, Napier Port intended to run a dedicated log service from Wairoa to Napier Port. That was expected to start in the last quarter of last year but the regional council last year said it had not been possible to source enough logs to make the line economically viable.