The recent speed of progress in repairing New Zealand’s Main North Line railway may allow the line’s opening to freight trains within a month, according to the operator KiwiRail.
The Main North Line, which runs between Picton and Christchurch, is a major link in New Zealand’s transport supply network, with over 1 million tonnes of freight travelling between the North and South islands every year before the earthquake.
Over 150 kilometres of the Main North Line was damaged in November’s earthquake, and intense repair work has been ongoing over the months since, fixing tracks, removing debris, and rebuilding critical infrastructure.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said he was proud of the achievements of those involved in responding to the “devastating blow” the earthquake delivered to the network.
“This has been a mammoth task. When the repair job is complete it will represent one of rail’s biggest rebuilds in New Zealand since World War II,” Mr Reidy said.
The earthquake resulted in 60 major damage sites along the line, including to tunnels, bridges and embankments, while over 100 slips and landslides had buried the track.
Reidy said the line would soon be open again to freight, but that it would initially be restricted to low-speed, low-frequency services, as a “sizable amount” of repair work remains to be completed before the line will be back to its pre-earthquake state.
“We still face challenges, with the ever-present risk of ongoing seismic activity, and bad weather which could delay the opening date,” Reidy said.
“Freight services will initially run at night so that work on the rail and road networks can continue during the day. KiwiRail’s award-winning passenger service, the Coastal Pacific, will remain on hold until 2018 for the same reason.”
Reidy said that even a restricted opening of the line would mean the replacement of up to 2000 trucks per month, significantly easing traffic pressure on the roads that have carried the freight burden since the earthquake.
“Reopening the line will not only lower the cost to customers of moving freight between the islands, it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions as every tonne of freight carried by rail is a 66% emissions saving for New Zealand.”