 This followed on from an original proposal to link Gisborne with Auckland with a line via Rotorua, with a "Gisborne-Rotorua line" from Makaraka to Motu of about 37 miles (60 km) being authorised by the "Railways Authorisation Act, 1904".Gisborne was however subsequently linked to the south with Wellington via Wairoa and Palmerston North by the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line in 1942.Work began on extending the line from the Taneatua Branch to Opotiki in March 1928  and on building the Paeroa–Pokeno Line in 1938, when the Minister of Public Works Bob Semple on 28 January "turned the first sod" it was said that the proposed 29 mile line would shorten the distance from Auckland to towns on the ECMT by nearly 50 miles.