The spot where Patrick Tinnelly got his bike wheel caught in the railway line. Photo / Zita Campbell
The spot where Patrick Tinnelly got his bike wheel caught in the railway line. Photo / Zita Campbell
A disused railway line that intersects with a popular Gisborne cycleway is being filled after a cyclist suffered multiple fractures from falling when his bike’s wheel got caught in a track.
Patrick Tinnelly, aged 71, spent two weeks in hospital after breaking his right shoulder and pelvis, and suffering severebruising to his right side.
Eastland Port is fixing the issue after residents were unsure who to call, as it is a council-listed cycleway on Eastland Port land.
The accident was at the railway track parallel to the Shark Bar end of Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club on December 30.
Tinnelly said he was an experienced rider and had been in a group that day.
“If I’d been concentrating a bit better, I wouldn’t have strayed near the railway track, but it is a bit narrow there.”
He told Local Democracy Reporting that since the crash, he had heard from multiple people who had also had accidents at the same spot.
A social media post by Tinnelly’s wife, Chris, received 17 comments from others who had seen, heard of, or been in cycle incidents involving the railway line.
Patrick Tinnelly said these included a woman whose bike handlebars punctured her lung in a fall.
These were “quite serious accidents and probably in line with what happened to me”, he said.
The cycleway is part of the Wainui to Midway Beach shared path and is listed on the district council’s website as part of its council-maintained walkways, mountain biking and fitness trails.
Responding to LDR queries, a council spokesperson said the railway was an asset and the responsibility of KiwiRail, while the port was responsible for the land.
It had received two reports of a hazard on the tracks - one in 2023 and one in 2026.
A KiwiRail spokesperson said this section of railway did not sit on KiwiRail land and was not owned by them.
Recreational cyclist Grant Bramwell heard about the Tinnelly incident and contacted the council and Eastland Port.
“I wasn’t sure ... which party I should be dealing with,” Bramwell said.
A friend of his had a “very close call” there and two other people he knew had experienced significant accidents from their wheels dropping into the train tracks.
The area could be dangerous, particularly for people who had not cycled for a long time ... “just having incidents and having fractures and that sort of thing”, he said.
Within 24 hours of being contacted by Bramwell, the port responded.
“I’m glad there’s been some action on it because I think it’s going to save a lot of people a lot of grief,” Bramwell said.
An Eastland Port spokeswoman said the port had acted quickly to address the issue”.
Eastland Port employees are filling in the railway lines beside the cycleway at the Tatapouri Fishing Club. Photo / Zita Campbell
“The rail tracks themselves are owned by the port, while the cycleway upkeep and maintenance is the responsibility of the council. However, our priority has been addressing the safety concern promptly.”
She said the gap between the tracks and the existing asphalt was being filled, and over the next month the tracks would be treated with an adhesive and sand coating to reduce slipperiness.
“The weather has impacted the asphalt pour, but this work will resume in the coming days.”
District councillor Colin Alder, who was contacted by Tinnelly about the issue, said he had written to the council.
As it was listed as a council cycle path, it was “the council’s responsibility to make sure it’s a safe space,” he said.
Both Bramwell and Tinnelly contacted the council and received similar responses.
Tinnelly contacted the council during his second week in hospital, but felt the response he received was “underwhelming”.
“The reply I got was that KiwiRail looks after the bridge and you need to contact them ... well, I didn’t fall off [the bike] on the bridge.
“I think they should have probably said, ‘yeah, it is our cycleway.’ I don’t think they took ownership of the cycleway at all, that was my concern a bit ... they would know better than anyone who had ownership of the cycleway.”
