Editorial: Hopefully find a use for rail line

The Napier-Gisborne rail line remains unused.

Hopefully we will eventually get to a point where some use will be found for the Napier-Gisborne rail line, or parts of it.

It has been the subject of much debate in the past few years and was even a component of the general election in the Napier electorate, where National candidate Wayne Walford advocated turning it into a tourist bike trail, while Labour's Stuart Nash, who became MP, supported the re-opening of the line.

The line was closed in 2012, following a washout, and the Hawke's Bay Regional Council did an initial study which found there was probably a viable business case for running a log transport business between Wairoa and Napier Port. However, last week, KiwiRail said it would not extend a March 1 deadline it set last year to finalise a lease agreement with the council.

Now a new idea has been raised, which needs to be explored.

The Road Transport Association believes sections of the line should be converted to highway to cut travel time and improve safety on the road. The first stage of the project would involve building a 29km near-straight highway between Eskdale and Tutira - cutting out a notorious section of winding road including the Devil's Elbow hairpin - at an estimated cost of $60million.

Anyone who has driven on the current road would agree that this would make driving to Wairoa much better.

However, there are some sceptics, including Mr Nash, who are dubious about the costs.

They are right, because these projects do tend to blow out financially.

It is a good idea in theory, but a lot more work is needed before we can consider it as the right option.