Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Editorial: Railway could be our future

By Mark Story
Hawkes Bay Today·
26 Mar, 2014 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Some of the congestion the Napier Gisborne Rail Establishment Group hopes will end if the Government and/or KiwiRail opens the line.

Some of the congestion the Napier Gisborne Rail Establishment Group hopes will end if the Government and/or KiwiRail opens the line.

Someone famous once said all nostalgia is denial.

I forget who it was, but the theory gains traction whenever I walk through my primary school, drive past an old flat or thumb through a photo album.

It manifests itself intensely when I visit my old university hostel and look up at a room on the third floor I called mi casa for a year as an 18-year-old.

I'm thinking whoever coined the above phrase meant nostalgia is denial of the present and a longing for the past. Perhaps I'm denying my age and pining for the halcyon days of youth.

I also think of the notion whenever the Napier-Gisborne rail derailment makes headlines.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sometimes it's hard to discern between nostalgia and acceptance.

Consider the logging truck crashes on Monday, including a fatal crash on State Highway 29, and the rolling of a logging truck trailer on Maraekakaho Rd. Of course, two trucks aren't a deal breaker. But it's nice to think we could see this huge tonnage run on rail rather than road.

The Government has said the matter is unequivocally out of the question, the Napier Gisborne Rail Establishment Group (NGRG) say the Government the Ministry of Transport has simply failed to understand its proposal.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Leaving aside any nuance allegedly lost on the ministry, it's clear the state doesn't want a bar of it, however it's pitched.

This can only be based on the grounds that it's not profitable.

And fair enough.

But why pick on this stretch? It's hard to believe any other stretch of parallel line in this country is enjoying a roaring trade.

Discover more

Editorial: Big shows prove just tutu much

04 Mar 04:00 PM

Editorial: Shaken by theatre finding

05 Mar 04:00 PM

Editorial: Our big hearts hide the shame

06 Mar 08:00 PM

Editorial: Govt needs to help with first homes

07 Mar 10:00 PM

But far be it from me to present a business case to Mr Brownlee. That's NGRG's brief to do, sans nostalgia.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

11 Jul 04:03 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

11 Jul 01:10 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

10 Jul 09:05 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

11 Jul 04:03 AM

Two Māori All Blacks to play in Maddison Trophy final.

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

11 Jul 01:10 AM
Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

10 Jul 09:05 PM
Premium
The humour history of Don Martin: Wyn Drabble

The humour history of Don Martin: Wyn Drabble

10 Jul 07:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP