Newspaper Article 2017 – Riding a mothballed rail line

Riding a mothballed rail line

SIMON HENDERY

Ninety-five metres above the Mohaka River in Hawke’s Bay, the country’s tallest rail viaduct is under scrutiny.

A bunch of bureaucrats – council staff, politicians and transport industry representatives – are strolling the 277m-long steel structure that was built between 1930 and 1937.

The viaduct – a looming presence from nearby State Highway 2 on the road between Napier and Wairoa – is one of the five massive structures crossing gorges on the mothballed rail line that links the two centres.

Eighty years after it opened, the Mohaka Viaduct appears to be in sound condition, ready for trains to begin rumbling over its rails again when the line reopens later this year.

“Things were very well built back in those days,” says Alan Dick, the chairman of Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s regional transport committee.

Dick organised a trip along the line so local councillors and the transport sector could get a look at the state of the track which has been closed since 2012.

KiwiRail and the regional council-owned Napier Port announced last year an agreement under which the port would run a log service from Wairoa to the port from late 2017.

The service is being launched to deal with an expected surge in log production out of northern Hawke’s Bay and is aimed at pressure from logging trucks using SH2.

Tree branches smack the sides of passing KiwiRail maintenance vehicles, and some sleepers have rotted away, but overall the line appears in reasonable condition.

The rotten sleepers, part of a consignment imported from Peru, were laid throughout KiwiRail’s national track network and were deemed to be in need of replacing in 2013.

KiwiRail and the port are still negotiating the terms of the agreement to use the line.  Dick said deciding who pays for repair work will be part of those negotiations.

However, he does not believe the repair costs will be a barrier to preventing the deal to reopen the line going ahead.

The NZ Transport Agency and East Coast councils are working on an initiative to make “significant upgrades” to SH2 between Napier and Opotiki.

One idea is cutting out a winding section of the highway north of Napier by re-routing it along the Eskdale to Tutira section of the rail corridor.  But Dick did not expect the proposal would be economically viable.

“It does not look practical because of the geography and the massive amount of earthworks that would be required, and consequently the massive cost.”

He said he would like to see tourist trains on the line.

Heritage rail operators have expressed interest in running steam trains on the southern section of the line, departing from Napier.

Photo captions–

The line includes the Mohaka Viaduct, running above State Highway 2.

Above, the line over the viaduct.

Below, rotten Peruvian sleepers.

PHOTOS: SIMON HENDERY/FAIRFAX NZ