New rail link officially opens

NEIL DUDDY

RAIL LINK: Transport minister Steven Joyce officially opens the Wiri to Waitemata seaport rail link, expected to save up to 100,000 central city truck trips each year.

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A slab of concrete 450 metres long and 2km of rail sidings in Wiri provided a big attraction for transport minister Steven Joyce last week. He was officially opening the Wiri inland port to Waitemata seaport rail link, a joint venture between KiwiRail and Ports of Auckland.

Trains have been using the Wiri freight hub since early February after its three rail sidings and 11,000 square metres concrete hardstand were completed.

The hardstand from which the containers will be loaded and unloaded took 15 major concrete pours and is nearly the size of the Britomart station platform.

Each of the three sidings can accommodate 22 wagons. Two trains can be loaded or unloaded at the same time while the third track is available for repositioning locomotives.

Ports of Auckland says the rail link between the Wiri Freight Hub and Waitemata seaport is expected to save up to 100,000 truck trips to and from the central city each year.

Managing director Jens Madsen says exporters and importers can now drop off and pick up freight containers without having to battle the congested Auckland motorway.

The rail link also brings the seaport right to the doorstep of businesses in south Auckland, offering big potential savings for many customers based near the Wiri inland port.

By using the rail link to the seaport, they will be able to reduce the carbon emissions of transporting their containers by up to 40 percent and on average by 25 percent.

Mr Madsen says using the Wiri hub as a staging post will also free up container storage space at the Waitemata seaport, making room for future expansion.

Auckland regional councillor Brent Morrissey, who helped to win government funding for the hub, says it will promote more efficient land use. "Developers of new and existing distribution centres within Manukau will not need large areas of onsite container storage as this can now be outsourced to the 14.5ha site at Wiri – and that should translate into more jobs for local people."

The Wiri freight hub is managed by CONLINXX, a joint venture between Ports of Auckland and transport logistics company NZL Group.

- © Fairfax NZ News