Wairarapa rail line closed but weather eases

Severe weather in Wellington appears to be easing, but the railway line to Wairarapa is likely to be blocked all weekend by a derailed train.

The main trunk line north of Wellington had opened again at 1.20pm after it was closed earlier today because of a slip north of Ngauranga Gorge on the northern outskirts of Wellington, KiwiRail spokeswoman Ruth Larsen said.

Passengers had been bused between Wellington and Porirua during the closure.

Meanwhile, the Wellington-Wairarapa line was likely to be closed for most of the weekend, Ms Larsen said.

A Wairarapa-bound train was knocked off the track by a slip as it came out of a tunnel at Maymorn, 40km north of Wellington, about 6.15pm yesterday, impacting 300 passengers.

A train was expected to tow the two remaining carriages back to Wellington this evening, however the locomotive was stuck about a metre off the rails.

Staff spent today starting to clear the slip itself and building a road so a crane could be brought in to lift the locomotive back onto the track, Ms Larsen said.

Buses were not available this morning.

However, from about 1pm all trains had been replaced with buses and this would continue during the weekend, Ms Larsen said.

"We expect at this stage that full train services will be back to normal for Monday morning."

The midland line between Greymouth and Christchurch, which had also been closed after severe weather caused a washout of the track, was expected to reopen later this evening, she said.

Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce president Jo Bransgrove said the problems caused by yesterday's slips showed how vulnerable Wellington's access routes were to wild weather.

As well as inconveniencing residents, the slips had caused major disruption to Wellington's economic activity, she said.

The storm was likely to cost the region millions of dollars.

The chamber called for the region to further invest in infrastructure to increase Wellington's resistance to the elements, including introducing alternative routes such as Transmission Gully.

Police communications team leader Kirsty Henson said there were quite a few weather related callouts this morning, with flooding, slips and trees down.

But things had quietened down in the afternoon and weather appeared to be easing.

Only State Highway 53 between Featherston and Martinborough was closed due to flooding at Waihenga Bridge. Detours were in place.

- NZPA