The Napier-Wairoa rail line is set to reopen, with an agreement between KiwiRail and Napier Port being signed. Napier Port is offering a freight service to log exporters starting in the final quarter of next year, with the final go-ahead subject to KiwiRail’s charge for making the track fully operational.
The Wairoa log service will initially run over the weekend, with two trains each Saturday and Sunday.
The Napier-Gisborne line was closed in 2012 after damage to the track north of Wairoa and declining revenues. Reopening the track would boost business growth in the region, KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said.
Hawke’s Bay regional councillor and chair of the Hawke’s Bay Regional Transport Committee, Alan Dick, said financial support from regional council was “essential” to the commercial arrangement.
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