Cyclone Gabrielle: Major updates revealed for damaged Hawke’s Bay rail lines

KiwiRail teams assess the flood-damaged rail line in Awatoto. Photo / Supplied

KiwiRail has provided an update on the status of its damaged Hawke’s Bay rail networks, including an announcement of a temporary structure to replace the unusable Waitangi rail bridge at Awatoto.

KiwiRail executive general manager construction Robert Gibbes said the damaged section of the Waitangi rail bridge would be replaced with a temporary structure.

He said teams were already starting to send steel casings for the bridge’s piles from Christchurch to Hastings.

“There is a lot of track still to remove and rebuild, and the bridge to reinstate, so we still expect the line to Napier to remain closed for up to six months. We are working to get the line open for when the peak freight season starts towards the end of the year.”

Freight can now travel between Woodville and Hastings, where KiwiRail has also set up a temporary container terminal.

Gibbes said freight now travelled by rail to and from Hastings and was then road-bridged to and from Napier Port.

“It’s an important step towards the recovery of the region and will help take freight off roads in the southern Hawke’s Bay,” he said.

KiwiRail previously told Hawke’s Bay Today there are usually seven trains that run a return trip from Palmerston North to Napier each week, and another five trains that run a return trip between Hastings and Napier each week.

These include about 350 containers carrying pulp and paper, wine, Wattie’s products and other import and export goods.

The rail line from Napier to Wairoa also suffered extensive damage as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, and Gibbes said that due to the difficult terrain, inspecting some of the line had been challenging.

This route is often utilised by one train carrying logs that generally uses the line each day.

“We have completed more than 80 per cent of our initial inspections along the length of the line and are aiming to complete the inspections in the next fortnight,” he said.

Work done to reopen the line in 2019 had “held up relatively well”, but Gibbes said there was still a “huge amount of work to do”.

He said once inspections were complete, KiwiRail would develop a work schedule for repairs.

Initial focus would be on emergency works to ensure line repairs could be undertaken safely, and so the line did not deteriorate further over winter.

A timeframe for reopening the Napier-to-Wairoa Line was unable to be provided.