Wiri Rail Connection Gets Underway

$0A start has been made on developing the rail spur connecting the main trunk line with the Ports of Auckland’s Wiri Inland Port.$0$0 In a formal ceremony this week, KiwiRail chairman Jim Bolger, KiwiRail CEO Jim Quinn, Minister of Transport Steven Joyce and Ports of Auckland CEO Jens Madsen addressed a gathering at Wiri and Joyce climbed into a digger to ceremonially turn the first sod.$0$0 The link when ready at the end of the year will see rail shuttles moving containers between the sea terminal and the inland port, eventually saving around 100,000 inner city truck trips - or 2.5 million kilometres - per annum.$0$0 The port sees the establishment of a rail link at Wiri as a common sense development that offers benefits on number of levels. As a ‘freight hub’ it is close to State Highway 1 and State Highway 20, and to Auckland International Airport. The rail connection will be the icing on the cake.$0$0 PoAL claims Wiri will allow it to take waste out of the supply chain, increasing productivity and offering customers and other users more flexible options for moving their goods. Once the rail connection is in place, it will step up efforts to use Wiri as a staging post for cargo between the Waitemata seaport, South Auckland and the Waikato.$0$0 It will also offer a more efficient means of handling empties. Madsen says that currently, around 30 percent of the containers leaving or coming into a New Zealand port are empty, and this is costing the country dearly – both in the pocket and environmentally.$0$0 Wiri is part of the solution to that problem, particularly if the trend in international shipping towards hubbing and larger ships sees an even greater share of New Zealand’s cargo moves being focused on Auckland.$0$0$0$0