Beginning this week work trains will run the full distance of New Zealand’s rail line between Wairoa to Napier as restitution works progress towards its reopening later in the year.
The work trains will be the first trains to run along the full length of the line since 2012, when severe storms damaged a section of the track north of Wairoa.
Henare Clarke, KiwiRail’s general manager of network services, said the trains, which would be delivering sleepers to work sites, were a sign of the progress that had been made in getting the line ready for freight once more.
“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,” Clarke said.
“It helps the environment by cutting carbon emissions: every tonne of freight carried by rail is a 66% emissions saving over heavy road freight.”
KiwiRail has estimated that using the line to move the logs could take up to 5,714 trucks a year off the road, and reduce carbon emissions by 1292 tonnes.
Funding to get the project off the ground came in February, with the New Zealand government allocating $5 million from its Provincial Growth Fund. The whole reinstatement project is expected to take a full two years to complete.
With both work trains and hi-rail vehicles – vehicles that go on rail – now travelling along the track, KiwiRail and TrackSAFE Foundation have warned the public to treat the corridor as “live” at all times.
“The progress we are making means that people need to be extremely careful around the rail corridor and when using level crossings as there has been little activity on the line for the last six years,” Clarke said.
TrackSAFE’s manager Megan Drayton reminded the public to keep off the track and to use level crossings.
“Look out for trains, obey the signs and signals at crossings and always stay off the tracks,” Drayton said.
“Trains are deceptively quiet and they can’t stop in a hurry or swerve to avoid anything on the tracks.”
Hi All,
As I see It, the Line between Wairoa and Napier is “Good to Go”!. Even if Its Work Trains for Now, Its Still
Rail Traffic as Such. Get Your Cameras etc Out and Take what Pictures You Can. History in the Making.