Connecting Northport to rail and enabling it to service Auckland-bound freight can make a major contribution to the development of the region, associate transport minister Shane Jones says.
The Ministry of Transport released its business case which explores the merits of upgrading rail in Northland and constructing a new section of track to connect Northport to the North Auckland Line (NAL).
The business case was commissioned by the Ministry of Transport at the request of the transport minister Phil Twyford and regional economic development minister Shane Jones and was funded by the Provincial Growth Fund.
It estimates a total cost of around $1.3 billion over 40 years. This includes $729 million in the first four years which includes the cost of upgrading the rail, reopening mothballed lines and constructing new rail from Oakleigh to Marsden Point.
The largest cost incurred is to upgrade the Swanson to Whangarei section of the track, at $356 million, followed by the new spur line to Marsden Point, at $329 million.
Jones says the business case shows Northland can transform the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga into a “golden diamond”.
“The Northland Rail business case, together with the recently released interim report from the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy present a bold vision for investment in how freight moves around the upper North Island.
“At the moment only 1.4% of Northland’s freight moves by rail compared with 7% nationally. This is the result of many years of what both the business case and the supply chain study call ‘managed decline’, including the failures to connect Northport to the main Northland rail line and upgrade tunnels to accommodate modern containers.
“Because of these failures, Northland products are often trucked to Auckland then packed into containers which then move by rail to the Port of Tauranga for export.
“The business case addresses these two problems, beginning with connecting Northport to the rail network. The business case estimates that a modern and reliable rail network in Northland has the potential to move around two million tonnes of freight, taking a lot of trucks off the roads and reducing congestion in Auckland,” Jones says.
The business case makes a number of recommendations, including seeking more information on freight demand and further engagement with iwi.
Completing land acquisition and design for the rail corridor and port link to Northport and seeking advice from KiwiRail on how investment in rail could be best staged over a four to six year period are key issues to be tackled, Jones says.
“This business case will play a major role in government decision-making about major investments in Northland rail after the final report from the Upper North Island Supply Chain Study is completed in September,” he says
