The Northland rail line is getting a $94.8 million investment from the Government to improve and maintain the line between Swanson and Whangārei.
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters said without investment, the rail line would become "unsafe and have to close within five years".
"That’s unacceptable and unfair to the people of Northland," he said.
Fifty-four kilometres of the 181km track would be replaced or upgraded, tens of thousands of sleepers replaced, tens of thousands of cubic metres of ballast added, aging bridges replaced, overdue maintenance work on tunnels carried out, ditches cleared and embankments stabilised.
Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said the work would make the line more resilient to weather events.
"Not only does it set the right conditions for KiwiRail to grow its freight business, wherever possible KiwiRail will be using Northland based contractors to carry out work. It will look to Northland first if they recruit more track staff, as well as sourcing materials in Northland."
The $94.8 million comes from the Provincial Growth Fund.
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