KiwiRail will resume freight operations on the Main North Line between Blenheim and Christchurch tonight.
The railway between Blenheim and Christchurch has been repaired following last year's Kaikōura earthquake. Photo: Opus International Consultancy
There will be two return freight services scheduled to operate each night.
The timing is chosen so that road repairs on the adjacent highway can be carried out during the day.
The two services will take up to 2000 trucks a month off the inland route, across the Lewis Pass.
The railway line was closed after exceptionally high levels of rain in Kaikōura in September and at the beginning of October caused more than 30 slips in the area, including three big ones.
The closure came earlier this month, four weeks after the railway was re-opened following last year's Kaikōura earthquake.