The Waitangi weekend fire that ripped through 300 hectares of scrub and forest on conservation land in Canterbury extensively damaged rail infrastructure on the Midland line that runs from Christchurch to Greymouth, forcing closure of the rail link for at least six weeks.
That left the mid and upper South lsland without any rail link east to west or north from Christchurch where rail infrastructure remained extensively damaged from the November earthquake.
The fire happened at Broken River near Castle Hill on February 5 with a full assessment of the rail infrastructure revealing significant damage to the track, signal services and several bridges.
A KiwiRail spokesman said crews from around the country would be brought in to do repairs as soon as possible but a lot of the work would be complicated by the difficulty of gaining access to the sites where the damage had occurred, adding time to the work.
KiwiRail was still working through the quickest course of action to reinstate the line and meantime the rail link used by the TranzAlpine passenger train and freight trains would remain closed.
The cause of the fire was still being investigated.
The closure affected passenger and freight services carrying coal and dairy products from the West Coast.
Westland Milk Products was a major customer affected but its supply chain general manager Raul Elias-Drago said the dairy co-operative was able to truck product from the West Coast to Christchurch.
“Westland has long had a dual system of transport utilising both road and rail, with a built-in ability to switch between the two depending on volumes, time of year, product mix and, of course, road and rail conditions,” Elias-Drago said.
The choice of transport mode had been an important part of day to day operations and a cornerstone in developing a flexible supply chain.
“It’s part of our West Coast DNA. This means we are well set up to cover contingencies such as the current disruption to the east-west rail line,” he said.
Westland Milk could use its own fleet of trucks and had partnerships with other carriers to transport goods as and when required.
These were strong partnerships that had been in place for some time and the system worked smoothly and cost effectively, Elias-Drago said.
The number of extra truck journeys would depend on the co-operative’s needs and what goods were being sent for export, which could vary every day, he said.
Westland had also received offers from several road transport carriers with capacity to help.
“Nevertheless, our own systems are working very well at this stage and can be maintained indefinitely so there is no pressure as regards the length of time it might take for rail to be operating again,” Elias-Drago said.
Grey District mayor Tony Kokshoorn said the Midland line was a major link that would have wide reaching impact on the West Coast.
But the region had a good agricultural base that would sustain it through this temporary blip and into the future.
“These things come along and you just have to deal with it.
“The South Island has certainly had its fair share in recent times – if it comes out of left field over the past six years, we’ve had it,” Kokshoorn said.
“And we have to keep building resilience, that’s exactly what the South Island is about, building resilience into our systems for the future.”
Kokshoorn said dairy farming was a cornerstone industry for the West Coast.
“From a dairying point of view we are strong. We have a good co-operative and it is confident it can adequately fill the rail gap with road transport for a good six weeks and more.”
Coal was another major rail commodity but if there was a good time for no rail for coal it was now, Kokshoorn said.
“With the global crash in coal prices from $300 a tonne to $100 and the Solid Energy mine closures dropping production from 2.5 million tonnes to one million tonnes a year, the demand is not there.
“It’s fortunate we are in a coal doldrums at the moment as you can only stockpile coal for so long.”
From a tourism point of view it was disappointing because the region experienced a bumper tourist season with several thousand people booked on the TranzAlpine passenger service over the coming weeks.
“But it’s no point in crying over spilt milk – we just have to stand by and encourage KiwiRail to get the rail link back up and running as quickly as possible,” Kokshoorn said.
