Outgoing Northland MP John Carter has vowed to help complete the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway once he returns from his three-year stint in Rarotonga.
Mr Carter bows out of politics after 24 years in November, instead taking up the post of High Commissioner to the Cook Islands.
He has long been
involved in the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust, which is restoring the railway from Kawakawa to Opua, and took part in his last Puff and Pull Carnival as Northland MP earlier this month, along with new National party candidate for Northland Mike Sabin and Te Tai Tokerau Labour candidate Kelvin Davis.
The railway is now open as far as Taumarere, where an historic station has been re-opened about 6km east of Kawakawa.
However, just beyond Taumarere is the railway trust's biggest obstacle - the 340-metre bridge across the confluence of the Kawakawa, Taumarere and Waiomio rivers.
The bridge is the longest curved wooden bridge in the Southern Hemisphere and will cost at least $500,000 to restore.
Mr Carter said the vintage railway was the nucleus for future tourism in the Mid North.
For example, once the railway reached Opua passengers would be able to connect with the Minerva - a 101-year-old steam ferry currently under restoration - and travel to Kerikeri. "And it all stems from here, from the railway," he said.
"So I'm making a commitment that when I come back, if the Long Bridge isn't done, I'll make sure it's done."
Mr Carter said he was looking forward to a new challenge in the Cook Islands.
"Besides, I don't want the new guy (Mike Sabin) to have me sitting behind him. I want him to have a clean run."
