Northland-Auckland rail line out for another eight to nine weeks

KiwiRail workers doing maintenance work on the Whangārei to Kauri rail line. Photo / Tania Whyte

KiwiRail has brought forward planned improvement work on the rail line between Whangārei and Kauri while the Northland and Auckland link is out of action for eight to nine weeks.

Freight service between Northland and Auckland will continue to be disrupted at least until winter as KiwiRail finishes major repairs following damage to the line during Cyclone Gabrielle.

KiwiRail runs a return freight service between Auckland and Whangārei every weekday. It transports milk powder from Fonterra’s plant at Kauri, dairy goods, cement and high-quality clay for export.

At times, KiwiRail carries containers for ships that unload at Northport and are then road-bridged to the Whangārei rail depot.

KiwiRail executive general manager construction Robert Gibbes said the company has started renewing the track between Whangārei and Kauri and aimed to complete as much as possible before the Northland to Auckland line reopened to reduce any further disruption for freight customers.

The work is funded through the Government’s NZ Upgrade Programme.

“We continue to focus on reopening the North Auckland line as quickly as possible to support freight flows into and out of Northland, but at this stage we still expect the line to remain close for at least the next eight to nine weeks,” Gibbes said.

He said the bad late-January weather washed away track between Swanson and Whangārei and brought down a massive 35,000cu m slip across the rail line at Tahekeroa. This was followed by further flood damage and around 50 slips onto the rail line during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Gibbes said contractors have repaired major washouts at Waimauku, Woodhill and both south and north of Helensville by adding rock protection alongside the tracks.

He said further north there were a number of slips beneath the rail line, which would likely require retaining structures to be built.

In recent years, the Government has invested more than $178 million to substantially upgrade the line between Swanson and Whangarei, including lowering the track in 13 tunnels so that modern shipping containers can be carried on trains.

This work is mostly complete, although the line is closed currently due to a huge lip on the track north of Helensville.

The Government is also investing in reopening the mothballed line north of Whangarei to Otiria, which will extend rail services further into Northland and enable more businesses to transport their goods by rail.