It's been more than a decade since Keith Clapham put his "Build The Marsden Point Rail Link Now" sign on SH1 at Ruakākā. Funding for the project has finally been approved.
It's been more than a decade since Keith Clapham put his "Build The Marsden Point Rail Link Now" sign on SH1 at Ruakākā. Funding for the project has finally been approved.
Northland rail campaigners have welcomed news that the Government has finally committed to funding a rail link to Northport - the deepwater port at Marsden Pt.
The Government will spend up to $550 million upgrading Northland's rail system.
Northport was granted consent in 2000 without the need for a raillink to the port but there's since been a push to get a rail link to help transport goods, particularly if the port starts taking containers full-time.
Last month Northport started the process to become recognised as a container ship port.
The land for the rail link has already been designated and the geotechnical work has been completed by KiwiRail.
At last week's Regional Transport Committee (RTC) meeting, Steve Mutton, Waka Kotahi director regional relationships (upper North Island), said the body would spend between $450m and $550m on creating the new Port Marsden to Whangārei rail link.
He would not be drawn on exactly how much of that would be spent on the rail link, as the funding was also for upgrades to the Whangārei to Otiria rail line. No further details of the spending, such as when work starts and how long it will take, have been released.
The news has been welcomed by Alan Preston, from the Save Our Rail Northland Group, who wants Northland's rail network expanded even more.
Preston said redirecting funding away from roading projects to invest in rail-based infrastructure - which can be electrified and used for passenger transport - is the kind of appropriate response that needs to be implemented.
His comment was in light of advice and warnings that the Government received from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate and the International Energy Agency. The international organisations warned about the need to urgently and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the vulnerability that stems from total dependence on imported fossil fuels,
''Back in 2011, Save Our Rail Northland gathered 13,471 hard-copy signatures from Northlanders in support of keeping the North Auckland Line open. At well-attended 'Grow Northland Rail' meetings held at Forum North on April 4, 2016, and on September 11, 2017, there was broad agreement that the completion of the Oakleigh-Northport rail link must be given priority to open up economic opportunities for the region - and to ensure the viability of the North Auckland Line.
Kiwirail finished it's geotechnical work for the Marsden Pt rail link in 2019, when then Regional Development Minister Shane Jones activated the last drill with support from Kris Hines of Pro Drill
''In June 2020 the line was closed to make way for a $110m upgrade of tracks, bridges and tunnels between Swanson and Whangārei, with freight services recommencing on January 11, 2021.''
Preston said rather than calling for a judicial review of the Government's decision to can four-laning SH1 south of Whangārei, Far North deputy mayor Ann Court should lobby for the extension, improvement and electrification of rail infrastructure for passenger and freight services into and between population centres in the region.
''Priorities should include re-establishing the link to the port of Ōpua through Kawakawa and back to the North Auckland Line at Otiria and all the way up to Kaitaia and in the Kaipara District for the rebuilding of the Dargaville Branch Line,'' Preston said.
''The world is changing fast and we need to have in place the infrastructure that enables us to transition away from burning fossil fuels now ,and which will provide robustness and resilience in the event that our access to imported fuel is limited or interrupted.
''We look forward to the opening of the Marsden Point Line and to further extension and improvements to rail infrastructure and services throughout the Northland Region.''
