New Zealand operator KiwiRail says longer log trains will take more trucks off roads, benefitting commuters and cutting into greenhouse gas emissions.
The state-owned rail firm says it has increased the number of wagons on its daily trains transporting logs from Masterton to CentrePort from 30 to 45 a day – a 40 per cent increase in capacity.
The boost means KiwiRail’s log service has an annualised capacity of 370,000 tonnes.
“Our log trains already avoid about 16,000 log truck journeys into Wellington each year. The additional rail capacity will avoid a further 6,000 truck journeys each year on the Remutaka Hill Road, the Hutt motorway and the pinch-point of Aotea Quay,” KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller said.
Miller said improved rail capacity facilitates an overall better intermodal solution. Rather than moving logs all the way to port, trucks can instead transport logs from the forest to KiwiRail’s Waingawa hub – which it is developing – allowing rail to cover the distance to CentrePort.
“It shows how rail and road can work effectively together to create economic and social benefits for the people of the wider Wellington region,” Miller said.
Log harvests in the lower North Island are forecast to increase in coming years.