Port of Tauranga expansion will see more trains

Port of Tauranga ceo Mark Cairns said Tauranga's rail network had been upgraded in the last year by increasing the length of the lines off the main line that led into the port. Photo / Andrew Warner

More train services and longer trains will be needed daily to cope with extra freight after next year's port expansion.

Port of Tauranga will be expanding next year to accommodate 40 per cent larger ships and with this comes the need for more freight capacity.

Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said the extra trips would affect the communities that bordered rail lines but the need for increased services was good for the city.

A Ministry for Primary Industries-commissioned report says bigger ships would mean changes for KiwiRail.

The Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Growth Study said the region's rail network was likely over time to need more upgrades in some areas, mainly more and longer passing loops to cope with more freight from larger ships.

Mr Crosby said Tauranga City Council was aware of KiwiRail plans to put more passing lanes on the network, which would allow for greater frequency of trains coming to and from Tauranga.

"That has an impact on our community because that rail link goes through our residential areas and the CBD as well."

More train services will mean more traffic disruption and Mr Crosby said the only way around that was through "grade separation" - building infrastructure such as flyovers to separate roading and rail.

This had already happened with Hewletts Rd, and two more flyovers were planned at Bayfair and Te Maunga.

"We do need rail to grow and expand because the other alternative is heavy trucks and some of the tonnage needing to be transported moving forward is huge."

The areas most affected would be Otumoetai and over the Wairoa River to Matua, through the CBD and down Maunganui Rd, Mr Crosby said.

Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said Tauranga's rail network had been upgraded in the last year by increasing the length of the lines off the main line that led into the port, which would allow three trains to load and unload at the same time.

Mr Cairns said the port worked closely with KiwiRail and both organisations were confident there was enough capacity for increased freight on the existing network.

About four trains a day make the trip to and from Auckland at the moment but Mr Cairns said the network could handle up to 15 trains a day with "a bit of notice and planning".

It was hard to know at this stage how many more trains would be needed after the port expanded.

KiwiRail group general manager operations Iain Hill said in a statement the existing rail network could cope with the port expansion.

"To meet any growth in those requirements, KiwiRail has the rolling stock available to be able to run longer and fuller trains, and increase the number of services available for its customers into and out of the Port of Tauranga."

Bay rail network
•Mostly used for moving freight.
•The volume of rail freight was about 6.4 million tonnes in 2012, about 40 per cent of rail cargo volumes nationally.
•The main link is the East Coast Main Trunk, which connects Tauranga to the North Island Main Trunk at Hamilton via the Kaimai Tunnel.
•The key freight movements on this link are container shipments from the Port of Tauranga to Hamilton and South Auckland's MetroPort.
•The route is also used for other types of freight, including dairy and meat products from Tauranga, export steel from Glenbrook, and wood and timber products from Kinleith.
•Rail is the preferred transport for Fonterra because it transports products from its production and storage facilities in Hamilton to the Port of Tauranga.
- Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Growth Study