Dunedin Railway's recovery from last month's flood has been complicated by a contractor shortage and an unexpected track closure north of the city.
Chief executive Murray Bond said it would be at least "several weeks'' before the Taieri Gorge Railway started up again, after the line was affected by slips and washouts.
Efforts to reopen the line had been affected by a shortage of contractors, who had been busy with other flood-related work, Mr Bond said.
"There was significant flood and slip damage and we are working on it every day.''
Dunedin Railways hoped to get a report back from a consultant this week about whether temporary fixes could get the track operational soon or whether long-term work was needed.
Until then he could not be entirely certain about when the service would start running again.
The company had attempted to run alternative trips on the line north of Dunedin, but it remained closed to passenger trains, because a slip at Mihiwaka, north of Port Chalmers, was still causing issues.
The line was deemed safe enough for container traffic but still too risky for passenger trains.
It was hoped the all-clear would be given for passengers in a matter of weeks.
The recovery bill would cost Dunedin Railways "many tens of thousands of dollars'', but it was trying to do what it could in-house, with its own staff and equipment, to save money.
In the meantime, some of its staff were taking annual leave.
A KiwiRail spokesman said it would continue to monitor the Mihiwaka site to establish when passenger services could resume.
