Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

KiwiRail on track for first train along Napier to Wairoa line next week

Hawkes Bay Today
1 Jun, 2018 06:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Trains will be moving again on the Napier to Wairoa line. Photo / File

Trains will be moving again on the Napier to Wairoa line. Photo / File

The first train in six years will be chugging along the Napier to Wairoa railway line next week.

A work train will travel from Napier to Eskdale delivering ballast on Wednesday morning as part of the project to reopen the line.

KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said having work trains running is an important part of getting the line open to shift logs by rail by the end of the year.

"This is an important project for the region, for New Zealand and for KiwiRail.

"It lifts the regional economy. It makes the roads safer by taking logging trucks off roads that were not designed to cope with growing volumes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It helps the environment by cutting carbon emissions."

A letter was sent to properties neighbouring the track recently to remind people to take care around the line.

"Because it has not been in use by trains, people need to be aware that trains will now be on the line, and they need to be looking out for them," Reidy said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The letter, from KiwiRail communities engagement manager Gill Evans, asked for people's help spreading the safety message to their communities.

"The rail line has been closed for a number of years and we need to make sure people have not become complacent around the railway," it said.

A ceremony to mark the return of trains will be held at KiwiRail's operations depot in Ahuriri at 11am on Wednesday before the first train leaves for Eskdale.

People wanting to see the train pass would have good vantage points from Meeanee Quay and Domain Rd at about 11.30am.

Discover more

Port railway project gets government funds

23 Feb 04:00 PM

Rail-line work already started

26 Feb 09:00 PM
New Zealand

Floods delay Napier-Wairoa rail reopening

15 Mar 07:27 PM
Business

Step forward for Wairoa-Napier rail line

30 Apr 06:00 PM

The line, which will be used to transport logs to Napier, is being reopened by KiwiRail using $5 million of funding from the Government's Provincial Growth Fund.

The work is expected to take two years to fully complete.

KiwiRail has estimated that using the Wairoa-Napier line to move the logs could take up to 5714 trucks a year off the road and cut carbon emissions by 1292 tonnes.

The Hawke's Bay Regional Council, Napier Port and KiwiRail entered into a commercial agreement in 2016 to reopen the line for the first time since it closed in 2012.

The line was mothballed after a section of track at the Beach Loop area was badly damaged in a storm earlier that year.

As part of the agreement, Napier Port intended to run a dedicated log service from Wairoa to Napier Port.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That was expected to start in the last quarter of last year but the regional council last year said it had not been possible to source enough logs to make the line economically viable.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

05 Jul 11:55 PM
Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Hawkes Bay Today

Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

05 Jul 06:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

Taradale and Pirate set sail for Hawke's Bay club rugby final

05 Jul 11:55 PM

Dominant first halves were the difference, with Maddison Trophy final spots on the line.

Premium
Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

Couple behind lauded cocktail bar call it a day: 'I don’t think people are prioritising social lives'

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

Flaxmere Woolworths site work begins, supermarket built by mid-2026

05 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
End of swimming pool weeds: Family's delight as cyclone-hit home gets green light

End of swimming pool weeds: Family's delight as cyclone-hit home gets green light

04 Jul 06:00 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP