Abandoned and destroyed rail line by drone - Hawkes Bay

A section of the abandoned Napier Gisborne Railway line north of Wairoa at a place called Beach Loop.

[@primojonpresents571]

The refusal to continue to maintain the Napier-Gisborne Railway after 2012, was wrong on all levels. As can be seen the Railway has been destroyed, not simply by nature, but more so by neglect of a national asset that cost taxpayers thousands to build and over time, significant investment. The abandonment of the Railway is a sad act of vandalism against the public purse and public interest.

[@keithmclean4283]

It is astonishing how rapidly that line is being overtaken by the bush and erosion. It does not seem that long ago we went through there on the rail excursion.

[@bnrailfannz8262]

2:09 to the tunnel. What an eye opener. Didnt realise the extent of the damage. One could say why was the railway built there in the first place but it was there for years? before any slips occurred... Great aerial footage once again👍 Thankyou

[@PiefacePete46]

Geoff, if only we could have had footage like this in 2012 it would have been much easier to decide for ourselves whether those making decisions were on the right 'track'. The media at the time just kept showing the same slip, with the same track drooping in midair. (Possible the same piece of track in your closing shot?). The damage is (was?) far more extensive than many of us thought. Brilliant video again, many thanks.

[@danieleyre8913]

The NZ media has been atrocious as reporting issues for decades now.

[@primojonpresents571]

An interesting point worth noting. If you don't maintain those track roadbed Drains, they will block up, and this causes washouts. The destruction of the Napier to Gisborne Railway was as much intentional on the part of Pro roading politicians, as it was acts of nature. When the first washout occurred, Kiwirail stopped maintaining that section of line. With no essential maintenance the roadbed will eventually wash away. I encourage those concerned to take the necessary action to maintain the sections of the abandoned line that remain so as to make it easier to restore the line in the future.

[@terrybrown8539]

The line has been closed for extended periods over its life due to storm damage so this is nothing new although the scale of damage evident now is very severe and not worth repairing given line's low utilisation pre storm.

[@faew1ld]

Pretty epic. I reckon it would be a great walking & mountain bike trail.

[@haroldblight3295]

A NATIONAL Disgrace... a potential money earner lost... could bring Tourists and their MONEY 💰 INTO the area... heritage railway tourism makes money...

[@wellingtonian2009]

Back in the day there use to be a regular passenger service from Gisborne to Wellington. As a kid I much preferred catching the train than a bus. You could get up and stretch your legs, go to the cafe or the open air carriage.

[@paulherron1933]

Incredible footage again Geoff. Not wonder it was abandoned. Mother nature wins again

[@tonymckeage1028]

Great Video Geoff, Interesting subject, the first and (not last) disaster that has lead to the reduced rail service to the East Coast, thanks for sharing

[@craigwadey2122]

Every now and rhen there are plans to rebuild this

[@FrogandFlangeVideo]

Hi Geoff. Easy to see the reason for the abandonement, or one reason perhaps. Great video !! James,

[@peterscandlyn]

Yeah, one reason in particular stands out.

[@davidyardley512]

This is really sad to watch. Clearly so much damage. But the little country that could, is now the little country that can't. Other countries would have repaired this.

[@shanefield7413]

i was the last train crew based in gizzy .this is so sad to see the line like this .intentional neglect caused this by f#y rich#hite and co . men lost their lives building this line , politicians backed by lobby groups pushed for this. rail lines in challenging areas need maintanance .this is the sad end result . profit before people .

[@glynnismacpherson504]

Fantastic footage Geoff🌿

[@terrytaoho8204]

Man I love to spend a week camped near that stream area during the summer months, watch the sun come up and maybe climb down for a swim in the ocean and a bit of fishing,

[@chriskiwi2601]

Great drone footage.

[@stuboyd1194]

Christ I wish I had done one of the excursion trains to Gisborne when the line was still open. I don't know why I never got around to it. :(

[@patriciamurphy9691]

What a waste of hardwood sleepers!

[@PiefacePete46]

Mmmm... I think there may be fewer of them there than NZ Rail's inventory says there is! 😜

[@damiensadventure]

Beautiful! Is this NZ? This reminds me of the Oregon / Washington rail systems of a hundred years ago that dot the land in that region of the USA.

[@PiefacePete46]

Yep, NZ. The storm that caused the slips was in 2012. As a couple of other commenter have said; it did not take nature long to reposess it.

[@jaybartlett1888]

Where did you walk from to get access up here?

[@allanegleston4931]

eek. indeed .

[@juttachaffey5717]

Hi loved the video, could you please tell me if this was caused by the cyclone last year, thank you, Happy Aussie.

[@geoffmackley]

Hiya, no, that bit was already destroyed.

[@juttachaffey5717]

Hi thank you for getting back to me , we love watching your videos, we always look for the little red truck, Happy aussie.@@geoffmackley

[@ronnierees6922]

From the UK I cannot understand why NZ is not investing in and using its existing rail lines and structures.

[@markspash178]

Quite simple really, there is no money in it. There isn't enough freight or passengers to make it viable

[@danieleyre8913]

@@markspash178Yet there are increasing numbers of heavy trucks in the roads and intercity coach services…

[@danieleyre8913]

Because we’re a mostly narrow minded and backward isolated little country at the end of the world that gets most of its ideas from the USA and Australia; two other backward & narrow-minded nations…

[@markspash178]

@@danieleyre8913 I would disagree with that, Intercity services are declining. There use to be an Intercity service between New Plymouth and Palmerston North. 2 major North Island cities, but no more, probably because of the lack of demand. If you can't fill a bus, then you'll never fill a train!

[@danieleyre8913]

@@markspash178 Oh okay, because a service between two provincial cities (“major” if you say so) has been cancelled (whenever that cancellation even was): That must apply to the entire country. Never mind that neither of these cities has much in the way of tourism nor a growing economy. And never mind the greater appeal of rail than taking a coach. Yes, yes well done 👍.

[@peterscandlyn]

MMMMunted....

[@ronhart8540]

I was a LA in Napier back in the 60s

[@ronnierees6922]

… and, having seen where this was filmed, I thought that there were serious moves to at least reopen this route for freight - or has that impetus now been totally lost?

[@danieleyre8913]

No chance since the cyclone & flooding earlier this year.

[@warrenjohnknight.9831]

Sadly now totally unrecognisable, and never to be rebuilt. 😢.

[@chrisardy6400]

Hi Geoff, I am giving a talk to a railway club in uk about our trip to New Zealand in 2011 when we traveled over this line by steam train. I would be grateful for a copy of your video to show them at the talk what the line is like now, I would credit you. If you are interested I could send you my video of the run passes that we had on that section of line and you could add it to your video with a credit to me. What do you think? Regards Chris

[@geoffmackley]

Hi Chris, no problem, contact me by email to sort it. Cheers Geoff

[@Emmanuel4334]

I mean storm damage always gonna be a expectation but to neglect the railway for that reason is not good business plan you can't just give up as soon as shit hits the fan like come on fam

[@steves009]

can totally understand why Kiwirail wont reinstate the line