KiwiRail has been working to make additional capacity available to move cargo on rail to and from KiwiRail’s Blenheim Container Terminal to alternate locations such as Lyttelton or Centreport to take pressure off the Blenheim – Nelson route.
“Our efforts are focussed on containers in Marlborough that may initially have been planned to be shipped via Port Nelson,” KiwiRail Executive General Manager Sales and Commercial Alan Piper says.
“We looked at what we could do to help after Waka Kotahi announced it needed to close State Highway 6 for seven weeks, meaning heavy road freight has to detour along State Highway 63 via St Arnaud.
This will add significantly to the normal journey times, resulting in increased roading costs, greater fuel consumption and extra emissions and also add to traffic congestion on this less-often used sector of highway network.
Transferring freight off the road and onto rail benefits everyone, as rail transport is 70 per cent more carbon-efficient than heavy road freight and it reduces the need for heavy trucks to congest our lesser highways.
“We have been in collaborative talks with both Lyttelton Port Company and CentrePort seeking ways to increase the volume of freight we could move around the region safely and sustainably.”
“We encourage businesses who would like to take this opportunity to move their freight off the roads and onto rail to please reach out and contact our Customer Services team on 0800 351 351,” says Mr Piper.