Port Otago's Container Terminal Rail Siding Milestone Boosts Efficiency and Regional Prosperity

Completion of Port Otago’s container terminal rail siding marks an important milestone for the Southern Link Logistics Park partnership, Rail Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say.

The $13.5 million siding at Port Chalmers in Dunedin is critical to the broader Southern Link Logistics Park inland port being developed near Mosgiel. The rail siding, funded entirely by Port Otago, will enable more efficient freight movement between the two sites.

The Port Otago rail siding already supports 60 percent of all containers transported through the terminal, taking 43,000 truck trips off Dunedin’s roads last year with a further 19,000 to come when the inland port is in operation, Mr Peters says.

Inland freight hubs provide vital additional space away from busy coastal ports. They can be seen in every major city in New Zealand but until now, Dunedin was the exception. That is finally changing, Mr Peters says.

Mr Jones says the ability of producers and manufacturers to get their goods more quickly and efficiently to port means savings, higher productivity and export earnings.

This is great news for the regions, its workers and the local economies. The country does well when its regions prosper.

Mr Peters says it is gratifying to see more companies like Fonterra, Coca-Cola, Synlait and now Port Otago backing investment in rail infrastructure because it has now been given the same status and reliable funding track as roading infrastructure.

The benefits of higher rail use flow to ratepayers and taxpayers through fewer trucks ripping up their roads, while rail assets built over generations get used and not left to fall into disrepair, Mr Peters says.

In May, Mr Jones announced a loan of up to $8.2m from the Regional Infrastructure Fund for the development of a three-track rail siding at the Southern Link Logistics Hub development near Mosgiel.