northern rail line reopening

and replacing expired timber sleepers with 11,700 new concrete sleepers so far. That work, funded through the NZ Upgrade Programme, was designed to allow the track to accommodate heavier trains, with 18 tonne axle loads – the load standard for rail elsewhere on the North Island.

“The aim is to complete as much renewal work as possible before the NAL reopens and avoid further disruption for customers.”

... in state of flux, plus port uncertainty

A 2021 report for the Ministry of Transport concluded that rail provides between $1.70 billion and $2.14 billion in unseen benefits to New Zealand each year, through reducing congestion by taking cars and trucks off the roads, fuel savings, lowering road maintenance costs, improving road safety, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Not unlike other parts of the national rail network, the NAL has long been in a state of flux, as planners and decision makers consider ways for rail to move a greater proportion of the 30,000 containers that travel southward from Northland every year.

Under the Northland Rail Rejuvenation project, recent years saw an upgrading of the line between Swanson in West Auckland and Whangārei, to enable it to carry high-cube (2.6 metre high) containers for the first time. This required the replacement of five old bridges, the lowering of track through 13 tunnels, and the laying of 150,000 new sleepers and nearly 63,000m3 of ballast on the track bed. After upgrade closures the line reopened in early 2021.

Other major projects planned or under consideration include upgrading and reopening the line from Kauri to Otiria (about 60km north of Whangārei, near Moerewa) and the building of a rail-road transfer site at Otiria; and the building of a long-proposed 19km rail spur linking the NAL at Oakleigh south of Whangārei to Northport at Marsden Point, one of the few New Zealand ports not currently railconnected.

The Oakleigh to Northport spur has been designated for rail use since 2012. Progress has been held up amid tussles over funding and the future of the port, including whether the Ports of Auckland should be

Info: 2002 KiwiRail integrated report: https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/ assets/Uploads/documents/Annualreports/2022/KiwiRail-IntegratedReport-2022.pdf

2021 Ministry of Transport report: https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/assets/ Uploads/documents/2021-Value-ofRail-report.pdf relocated there, as advocated by Wayne Brown long before he became mayor of Auckland.

(Moving the Auckland port to Manukau harbour instead was the favoured option in a 2020 government report, although decisions were deferred. Budget 2022 included funding for studies on several proposals relating to freight in the upper North Island, including developing a new dry dock at Northport and a large-scale port in Manukau Harbour.)

In last year’s integrated report, KiwiRail chair David McLean said KiwiRail was continuing to develop the business case for the new line from Oakleigh to Northport . The report said the acquisition of land needed for the project was progressing.

“The project is subject to Joint Ministers’ approval of the business case and is expected to take up to five years from initiation to completion.”