Bathurst Coal Ltd has advised the Takitimu Mine will close in 2027 as the coal resource is exhausted and further expansion is not viable, given its customers’ decarbonisation strategies.
Coal transportation will cease by mid-late 2026 and final rehabilitation and decommissioning of the mine will commence.
KiwiRail chief infrastructure officer Siva Sivapakkiam said the mine closure meant there was no future freight to carry on most of the 79km Ohai line so that section would now be mothballed.
"The Ohai line is in a poor state and most of it is already closed to trains. Significant damage to track and other infrastructure occurred in an extreme weather event in September 2023," he said.
"Since then, coal from Takitimu Mine near the end of the line has been transported by road to Invercargill, where it is put on trains and travels 450km north to near Timaru.
"The line requires more than $1million of repair work to reopen it but it will then need tens of millions of dollars more spent on upgrades — including replacing a number of ageing wooden bridges with modern structures — over the next five years."
"The national rail network is publicly funded and, given the mine is closing, this spending cannot be justified." KiwiRail always supported the use of rail where it made sense, he said.
The first 9km of the Ohai line, which supports the Alliance Group’s meat works at Lorneville, was not impacted and remained fully operational.
Coal would continue to be moved by road until the Takitimu Mine officially closed.
KiwiRail would also be removing level crossing signage from just north of Lorneville, as trains will not be allowed to run on the line.
However, there will be periodic inspections in rail vehicles and some low-level maintenance between Lorneville and Ohai to ensure the rail corridor remains safe and to limit overall deterioration in case new freight opportunities emerge and the line is reopened in the future.
No KiwiRail jobs are impacted by the mothballing decision. — Allied Media
