Seeking Government approval to reopen Napier-Wairoa line

Track and sleepers from the devastated Eskdale section of the Napier-Wairoa line have been removed as part of “make safe” work by KiwiRail. Picture by Chris Geddis

by Doug Laing

KiwiRail is moving ahead with plans which could see a reopening of the Napier-Wairoa line if it gets Government approval.

Amid conjecture that the track could be mothballed again — following over 400 damage sites in the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and other weather events — a spokesperson for the state-owned railways operator says it is working on “detailed costings and options” and expects to present these to the Government for its consideration in “the coming months”.

Community conjecture mounted with the recent removal of track and sleepers from Eskdale where the track was ripped apart in Cyclone Gabrielle in February last year.

But KiwiRail says it is part of “make safe” work designed to stop the damage to bridges, embankments and washouts, and other slips getting worse.

“This type of work includes culvert clearing, slopes and debris clear-out, removing suspended track and hysdroseeding embankments and slopes,” it says in a newsletter to the Eskdale community.

It says it needs to apply for funding for repairs to reopen the line and this requires Government approval.

The line was mothballed in 2012 and reopened with the assistance of $5 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, announced in early 2018 by then Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones.

The intention was to open the line to what was called a “wall of timber” from the forests of northern Hawke’s Bay to the Port of Napier.

Another washout delayed the project. The line was reopened in June 2019, but the first logging trains did not move until January 2020 and only six trips were made before coming to a halt because of the Covid-19 impact on the forestry industry.