Forestry trains on restored rail line

Brass fanfare and a tikanga Ma¯ ori welcome saw Shane Jones descend on Napier yesterday via train.

He was all smiles as the first train to travel on the NapierWairoa line in six years arrived at Ahuriri.

Driven by local KiwiRail team leader Wayne Kempton, who has been with the company for more than 40 years, Regional Economic Development Minister Jones gave a speech celebrating the return of trains to the mothballed tracks.

To applause from a crowd of about 100 people, the train departed Napier for Eskdale about midday carrying a load of ballast – crushed stone which forms the trackbed.

In February, the Provincial Growth Fund committed $5 million for KiwiRail to reopen the line for logging trains, allowing a low-speed forestry service to operate between Wairoa and Napier Port.

‘‘Today’s ballast drop marks a significant milestone for the project – one of the first to be funded by the PGF,’’ Jones said.

Logging trains were expected to be ready to travel the line by the end of 2018, with work expected to be fully completed within about two years.

Jones praised the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Wairoa mayor Craig Little for promoting the reopening of the rail line.

The challenge was now on KiwiRail to identify and promote additional projects, as the Government was ‘‘100 per cent proKiwiRail’’. ‘‘To the board member, to the CEO, pony up your proposals because you will be pushing on an open door.’’

Jones said he knew it had been a ‘‘dispiriting time since rail was marginalised in terms of the economic and political narrative’’ of New Zealand. ‘‘KiwiRail – for you – it’s springtime.’’

Hawke’s Bay regional councillors, staffers, and local iwi also attended the event.

Following the departure of the train, Jones said the trip was ‘‘symbolic’’.