Gisborne line public meetings

[john-ston]

Is there anything stopping people other than KR from fixing the line and the washouts?

Want to set up a company with golf carts?

[rail_up]

Is there anything stopping people other than KR from fixing the line and the washouts?

Want to set up a company with golf carts?

Err.. no. If I was to ever run ANYTHING on a NZ railway, it would be a proper loco.

The question was more to do with whether KR are the only outfit that can repair the washouts and the tracks due to them being able to 'certify' the safety of the finished product.

[Matt L]

I suspect that if someone offered to pay for it to be repaired that KR would happily do the work

[vworp]

I suspect KiwiRail would have to - as repairs and maintenance would have to comply with the national rail system standards to be OK by NZTA, if it will continue to be used as a main line...

[greenwelly]

I suspect KiwiRail would have to - as repairs and maintenance would have to comply with the national rail system standards to be OK by NZTA, if it will continue to be used as a main line...

That depends on how much of the actual spade work is actually done in house and how much is contracted to organisations like FH or others,

I am fairly sure that KR would be happy for one of there existing contractors to do the actual work (paid for by someone else), provided they were able to perform their normal overseeing/certification function during the work...

Although I agree they are certainly not going to allow an unknown to do it.....

[eurokiwi78]

who is 'doing up' the SOL or was it still in a 'golf cart' usable state following the derailment? I assume if track thats not part of the network is to become part of the network it would get a thorough going over by KR or its descendant.

[royce]

Another article in Gisborne herald
http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=29090

[scooter]

who is 'doing up' the SOL or was it still in a 'golf cart' usable state following the derailment? I assume if track thats not part of the network is to become part of the network it would get a thorough going over by KR or its descendant.

It is in 'golf cart' suitable state. The issue with the derailment IMO was that it was an annoying amount of damage spread over some 15k's of track.... not all confined to one site. Quite what state the whole line has been allowed to deteoriate to since is a diferent thing but had heard the gangers had been out there quite a few times in the intervening period

[eurokiwi78]

It is in 'golf cart' suitable state. The issue with the derailment IMO was that it was an annoying amount of damage spread over some 15k's of track.... not all confined to one site. Quite what state the whole line has been allowed to deteoriate to since is a diferent thing but had heard the gangers had been out there quite a few times in the intervening period

It had been getting gradually run down for years, they dropped the linespeed around 2000 (large sections that had been 70km/h became 50km/h) presumably to save on maintenance. Then, for a brief period when tranz rail ran two trains each way mon-fri plus a sunday return service there was even talk of points indicators and motor points at Tangarakau (to be pilfered from Wairoa) to make the regular crossing there (537, 536) less challenging operationally. There was talk of regular milk trains around that time which would have required substantial catchup maintenance Id say. One day they will kick themselves for letting the SOL go.

[RH9]

Port Taranaki seems to be dying which would be the main reason the SOL lost its tonnage along with the Waitara branch tonnage??

Seems odd that a port cant be sustained on the west coast when the east coast has Napier and is further away from Australia. But I dont know alot about ports I must admit

SOL and Gisborne line could both take high cubes I think but again KR dont have the $$ to maintain all its corridor/lines so these potentially profitable lines have been lost. One wonders what business KR could take on if they had the lines all built to modern standards. Instead the lines have been run down and mothballed. Very sad.

[eurokiwi78]

I would have thought port taranaki playing a diminished role in the regions exports would make the sol more useful, if the export flows north rather than napier or centreport anyway. Much like if gisborne lost its port the rail line would have a brighter future.

[RH9]

I would have thought port taranaki playing a diminished role in the regions exports would make the sol more useful, if the export flows north rather than napier or centreport anyway. Much like if gisborne lost its port the rail line would have a brighter future.

True, that should have helped the SOL in theory but I was thinking dairy exports from the King Country might have gone that way but yes what you say makes more sense. What dod Port Taranaki used to export that no longer goes out, was natural gas ever railed/shipped out in large quantities before the pipelines were built north?

[Rail-it]

I would have thought port taranaki playing a diminished role in the regions exports would make the sol more useful, if the export flows north rather than napier or centreport anyway. Much like if gisborne lost its port the rail line would have a brighter future.

True, that should have helped the SOL in theory but I was thinking dairy exports from the King Country might have gone that way but yes what you say makes more sense. What dod Port Taranaki used to export that no longer goes out, was natural gas ever railed/shipped out in large quantities before the pipelines were built north?

What dairy exports were these(from the King Country).

Some products I can remember coming over the SOL in recent years(last 20!!) was wood chip from New Plymouth, Gas, Urea etc, diary produce, sawn timber, milk, logs, metal. At the end of 2008, It was announced the sawmill at National Park would close. They were transporting sawn timber to New Plymouth, which would come down from the park to Taumarunui by truck were it was loaded onto flatdecks. It was not uncommon to see a good dozen bogie wagons be loaded in a day. I recall seeing 15 go out one day(they didn't go other the night before!!). Once that was gone, it was really only diary produce and the odd bogie wagon with gas that was going over the line. It wasn't hard for KR to convince to go the long way around - KR still charge the same rate, and delivery time is similar.

The Urea and wood chips used to be daily tonnage, and accounted for a good portion of the consist. But that is long gone. The wood chips went via Marton to Karioi a long time back now, and the Urea started coming from the east coast via palmy not long after that(about 1998 off top of my head). Milk, logs, metal were uncommon, and usually special trains. I remember though when NZ Rail was carting metal out to Ohura, it was near daily for quite some time. It was used on the Waitaanga road(Ohura to Ahititi). Logs came out of Ohura and Te Wera during the 90's, often special trains too.

I was expecting the SOL to stay open myself too given the Port lost a lot of traffic to rail. Quite surprising that was.

[eurokiwi78]

Technics bitumen from port taranaki, lactose and co2 from kapuni used to travel over the sol to penrose. There also used to be Wagons from the freight branch. Added up daily Id say maybe ten wagons worth.

And mainland cheese from stratford to the siding at southdown.

All up there would have been a decent amount of freight excluding fonterra.

[Rolls-Royce]

Lots of discussion about rail in the Gisborne Herald, a hot topic in this region:

http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=29090

http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/letters/

[geoff_184]

$100m for Gisborne's roads.

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/about/media/releases/2164/news.html

The NZTA's Central Regional Director, Jenny Chetwynd, says the investment in Gisborne, as part of the National Land Transport Programme, will help to improve the security and resilience of the roading network and unlock the potential of freight throughout the region.

This includes $45m on state highways and $55m on local roads.

Ms Chetwynd says the NZTA plans to invest regional funds in projects to improve roads leading to the Port of Gisborne, including around $10m to open up new routes to high productivity motor vehicles (HPMVs). A big focus will be improving SH35 from Tologa Bay to the port, mainly by increasing bridge capacity.

Ms Chetwynd said the investment recognises the value for the Gisborne economy of unlocking the potential of important freight routes, particularly transporting logs to the Port of Gisborne - a cornerstone of the local economy.

`Gisborne needs a resilient, efficient and well maintained road network linking the forests to the ports.

`We'll be making lots of incremental improvements to the roading network to deliver big economic dividends. We want to make it easier to get large amounts of goods to and from the Port, and this will make Gisborne more competitive and productive.'

`The improvements to bridge capacity mean larger, more productive vehicles can access the ports, which allows more goods to be moved in fewer journeys. What this means is fuel, money and time saved, safety gains from fewer truck movements, and overall a more streamlined and efficient freight operation for the whole Gisborne economy.'

[RH9]

Thanks for the info guys re the SOL, its amazing how all that business fell away and no bulk customer could be found to justify its retention. From a romantic viewpoint its that line and the PNGL that I never got to ride on a passenger train so thats a "downer" for me. That and the sacrifices and determination it took to build those lines, only to see them shunned and allowed to fall off the KR map

Geoff, no suprises the money for the Gisborne highway has been found. Im never voting National again!!

[pickle]

This is poor - most of these benefits could have been achieved by reopening the line!

[duddley]

It sure is an epic facepalm moment after reading that!

[eurokiwi78]

So, basically close the railway line and allow bigger trucks on the roads in the district.