A freight train travelling to Kaikoura was trapped by landslide. The train has been moved and the locomotives parked in a tunnel.

KiwiRail wants to get to goods on board its train trapped between giant slips north of Kaikoura, but faces a wait until it can access the freight.

Stuff photographer John Kirk-Anderson reached the train by road on Monday morning for a close-up look.

The cut-off area feels like "no man's land", he says.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ The locomotives have been uncoupled and moved into a tunnel.

The train has been moved by KiwiRail so the tunnel it was in can be inspected. The railway line north of Kaikoura is expected to be out of action for a year.

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﻿It is stuck in Mangamaunu, a popular surf spot, which is about 10 kilometres north of Kaikoura.

KiwiRail moved the train after it was looted by youths last Wednesday.

The locomotives have been pushed into a nearby tunnel and the wagons have been pushed north out of the tunnel, now sitting on tracks on the inland side of State Highway 1.

"KiwiRail relocated the train a short distance on Friday to enable the tunnel to be inspected.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ The wagons have been pushed backwards and secured.

"We also took the opportunity to further secure the goods that remain on the train," a spokeswoman said on Monday.

KiwiRail had taken further measures to make sure goods in the wagons were secure until access to the site was enabled and it could recover the items onboard. She said they are working closely with New Zealand Police to ensure the security of freight.

The spokeswoman could not say what the train was carrying, citing commercial sensitivity.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/FAIRFAX NZ The train is trapped between giant landslides on State Highway 1.

She did not believe the train had been damaged.

Kirk-Anderson headed north from Kaikoura at first light to photograph and video the stagnant train.

"The road to the turnoff to Blue Duck Valley Rd, which is a small settlement up there, has been improved.

IAIN MCGREGOR/FAIRFAX NZ Last Monday's magnitude-7.8 earthquake stopped the train in its tracks.

"It goes past two major slips, which cover State Highway 1 and the rail line.

"There has been a track bulldozed to bypass those to allow access to that settlement," he said.

Heading north just after the turnoff the road climbs.

"There's been rockfall over the road and the roadway has collapsed.

"You can see one locomotive probably about five metres inside the tunnel. Going around past that, I had to come down off the road and go around the foreshore .

"The track at that point is on the inland side of the road ... The train itself when I got there it was just sitting there quietly [and] the locos have been uncoupled from it," Kirk-Anderson said.

The area was totally quiet, apart from the noise of the surf.

"It was quite surreal being on that road with no traffic," he said.

A police spokeswoman said no more arrests been made in relation to the looting, other than three made last Friday.

Three local men aged between 18 and 26 were arrested in relation to the incident.

The three men turned themselves in.