Being able to accurately forecast and meet the needs of growing and changing populations and transport movements is essential to economic growth.
KiwiRail’s trains and ferries move 17 million tonnes of freight each year – and we know this can – and needs to – grow.
It makes sense – for the economy, for the environment and for our customers across the national supply chain.
New Zealand’s population is growing – we need more options for moving people around too. Sustainable options that take cars off roads, offer faster journeys and allow people to choose rail as the most convenient choice.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.Avondale to Southdown – the missing limb in Auckland’s rail network
Designated for rail since the 1940s, KiwiRail owns land that forms a corridor running from Avondale to Southdown (near Onehunga) in Auckland.
This has always been earmarked for the development of both passenger and freight rail.
This new east-west cross-isthmus link would deliver vast benefits for rail passengers and local communities – as wide-ranging as increased property values, improvements in accessibility and connectivity, not only opening up new rail routes but integrating with North/South bus routes too.
Improved productivity and efficiency would stimulate economic growth, as would residential and commercial property development around the new stations and along the rail corridor.
Building a new route for freight and passenger rail here unlocks a bottleneck at the converging Western, Southern and Eastern Lines.
It allows freight services to bypass the inner-city network – reducing congestion, improving efficiency for freight and logistics supply chains and supporting economic growth in and beyond Auckland.
For passengers, there would be enhanced accessibility and travel times, connecting communities across the isthmus – new routes into the city centre and further amplifying the faster, more frequent journeys benefits that will be unlocked by the City Rail Link.
KiwiRail’s Avondale to Southdown corridor.
In developing the corridor, there is a real opportunity for private investment to help deliver the rail infrastructure, supported by housing and commercial urban development.
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This co-development would help to fund the infrastructure and more broadly create economic growth – all benefiting Auckland and neighbouring regions.
The national rationale for this new infrastructure becomes all the more persuasive when you factor in the proposed increased freight movements from Northport via the Marsden Point Branch Line, which is currently under investment consideration.
Golden Triangle Electrification
Also crucial to this big picture of growth for rail is the proposed Golden Triangle Electrification project. This involves electrifying the busiest part of the rail network (outside the metros) between Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland to bring significant benefits to NZ Inc.
Rail is already an energy-efficient and low-carbon mode of transport, with KiwiRail carrying 25% of New Zealand’s export products.
The proposed investment in electrification will help us respond to the growing customer demand for a net zero carbon freight option in the supply chain.
Listening to our customers’ needs and helping them to meet their decarbonisation targets is a key priority for KiwiRail and it will support New Zealand’s exports in remaining attractive to overseas countries by enabling carbon tariffs to be minimised.
Electrifying the Golden Triangle rail network will make a significant contribution towards New Zealand meeting carbon emission reduction commitments.
This project would help reduce rail emissions by 45% by 2035 in the Golden Triangle and 95% by 2050 (compared to 2019 levels).
Our strategy to electrify the Golden Triangle rail network is consistent with the Government Policy Statement for land transport to invest in the busiest part of the transport network to support economic growth.
And it’s not just about freight – it includes a scenario for extending electric overhead wires for passenger rail south of Pukekohe to Te Rapa.
Being able to run electric trains south of the Bombay Hills would cater for the large population growth occurring as housing intensification takes place in these areas.
This would provide a sustainable transport option and reduce traffic congestion for the 130,000 more people who are expected to move there in the next three decades.
Peter Reidy, CEO KiwiRail.
To help grow the economy, plus provide an efficient and certain decarbonised transport option, it is vital there is an environment that fosters long-term, sustained investment and policy to unlock transformational rail infrastructure development as part of the national land transport system.
Each of the projects mentioned could work alone, but the benefits would be even greater if they are assessed, delivered and co-ordinated through a transport system lens rather than a road versus rail analysis.
It’s big-picture transport demand thinking that New Zealand needs right now as we battle the only too visible impacts of population increases and climate change – we need to take meaningful action to address this.
Bold decisive moves to ensure long-term sustainable futures are needed and working together as an integrated supply chain system with customers, communities and agencies will accelerate options to address the challenges we face.