15 August 2011
The northern Wairarapa railway could be reborn as KiwiRail considers using the track to feed a Masterton-based East Coast logging hub.
No regular services run on the century-old Masterton to Woodville branch line but it is still open and maintained. Now KiwiRail is looking to use it again after an upsurge in log transport demand, according to an article in The DominionPost.KiwiRail was in talks with forestry owners about developing new hubs where logs could be stockpiled then transported for export from ports such as Wellington and Napier. Waingawa – an industrial zone on Masterton's southern fringe – was being eyed by KiwiRail as an inland log port.
New log cradles, which attach to wagons, should arrive later this year, increasing KiwiRail's forestry fleet capacity "considerably," she said.
As part of the government's $4.6 billion "turnaround" plan to make KiwiRail sustainable within a decade, a review of the Napier-Gisborne line – which runs a single weekly service – is continuing. However, no "significant new business opportunities" have been identified on the line.
Source: The DominionPost, to read the fill story click here.