Freight Rail

Logs move from road to rail at Wellington

Ian Ackerman: 

Log transport to Wellington’s CentrePort from the hinterland has transitioned from road to rail with the inauguration of the 2.8 hectare Waingawa log hub in the Wairarapa near Masterton.

KiwiRail freight trains run a daily service between the log hub and the port, about 100 kilometres to the south.

Log throughput at CentrePort increased by close to 100% over the past five years, with no sign of letting up as trees in the region reach maturity.

The log hub project was realised through a partnership between CentrePort, Forest Enterprises Limited and Farman Turkington Forestry, with the support of KiwiRail.

CentrePort chief executive Derek Nind said the Waingawa log hub would offer log exporters a reliable and economic way of moving logs to the port.

“Part of our long-term strategy is to invest in infrastructure, develop strategic partnerships and create seamless road and rail connections from the hinterland to our seaport,” he said.

KiwiRail group general manager for sales and commercial Alan Piper said the log hub was a great example of road and rail integration.

“Using Waingawa as a staging point for logs means that they can then be moved efficiently through to CentrePort on rail,” he said.

“I am certain the regular users of the Rimutaka Hill Road will appreciate the benefits that avoiding over 16,000 more truck trips on this stretch of road will have.”

Forest Enterprises managing director Steve Wilton said the hub would be “an efficient, secure and long term logistics channel to the port which is vital to our ability to successfully harvest in the Wairarapa”.

“This is why we have taken a long term lease of approximately 50% of the footprint at Waingawa, complementing our long term commitment to log storage at CentrePort.”

Farman Turkington Forestry partner Guy Farman said it was satisfying to see the hub and the port develop over the past few years.

“It’s certainly given us the confidence to take a long term lease at the Waingawa hub and expand our operations,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Rail Express affiliate site Lloyd’s List Australia.