Plans to get logging trains moving between Wairoa and Napier by the end of the year could have been derailed by a washout during the storm in northern Hawke's Bay.
A fortnight after the washout, ruining 45 metres of the track just north of Raupunga, KiwiRail is non-committal to a date for the reopening of the line, and is still assessing the problem.
![The washout has left the railway track suspended. Photo / Duncan Brown](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/RT4GTONCO6LLZDMEJ3AROK46QY.jpg?auth=5f4a5e8e5a8033237a9400588f87910ecc3191638fff252acdfc3b61dda9d281&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
"Our teams are continuing to assess the damage and any impact it may have on the planned reopening date for the line," KiwiRail said in a short statement today.
The line has been closed for more than six years since KiwiRail decided it was uneconomical after a major washout which left about 100 metres of track suspended in the air near Mahia on the Wairoa-Gisborne sector in March 2012.