Kajavala Forestry managing director Jacob Kajavala says anyone driving to Tauranga from the Eastern Bay should expect to find a lot more logging trucks on the road than usual.

With Kiwirail's East Coast Main Trunkline between Kawerau and Mount Maunganui seriously damaged due to flooding, Kajavala says he's moving 30 truckloads of logs to the Tauranga port for export every day.

'Don't try to drive to Tauranga right now, we are punishing that place with trucks right now.”

However, he says this is only a trickle compared to the 170 truckloads a day he would normally be moving.

'The forestry industry in Kawerau and Murupara is grinding down because we can't move wood. It's not like there's just a whole lot of trucks just waiting in the wings in order to move our logs.”

Kajavala addressed councillors at a Whakatāne District Council meeting yesterday on behalf of Industrial Symbiosis Kawerau.

Council chief executive Steph O'Sullivan from what she understood there were 60 more trucks on the road every day now, due to the weekend train derailment near Te Puke.

KFL managing director Jacob Kajavala.

Kajavala says 30 of those were from his business.

He says the damage to the track is severe and will take longer than first thought to repair.

'A big chunk of railway track just on the other side of Te Puke, essentially is gone. This was not just a derailment, its goodbye railway track.”

He says it made the damage to the track from the Matata debris flow look like a 'children's picnic”.

KiwiRail chief operating officer – Rail Operations Siva Sivapakkiam says the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) had unfrozen the scene of the wagon derailment near Te Puke, and KiwiRail has begun work to remove the 11 derailed wagons.

On Tuesday afternoon, TAIC had given permission to take away 17 wagons, which were still on the rails, from the site.

'Before we can fully repair the track, our teams need to remove the derailed wagons and their cargo. To do this, we will today begin making temporary repairs to sections of track that have been washed out by water over the last few days, so we can get to the derailed wagons. An underground gas line runs through the area, so removing the damaged wagons must be done extremely carefully.

'Once the derailed wagons have been removed, we will be able to make a full track inspection and begin repairs that will allow this section of the East Coast Main Trunk Line to reopen. Our track teams will be busy as we undertake the various stages of work.”

He says KiwiRail and TAIC are undertaking separate investigations into the derailment.

'Weather has delayed the initial response to the derailment and the incident investigation, and it could still hinder the recovery response. At this stage we are unable to provide a firm timeline for reopening the line.

'We appreciate the impact this has on our customers and are keeping them informed.”

The derailment happened at about 5.30am on Sunday. The locomotive and many of the wagons did not derail and the two-person crew were not injured during the incident.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air