Auckland (New Zealand) seeks government finance to shift boxes from road to rail
New Zealand's government is considering offering Auckland a NZ$6 million (US$4.57 million) grant to partly finance the building of a rail link between its terminals and Wiri to rid container traffic from the roads.
The grant offered by the nation's Finance Minister Michael Cullen is subject to formal cabinet approval, reports The New Zealand Herald.
Ports of Auckland Ltd is reported to have already spent NZ$19 million to buy and develop 10 hectares of land beside the North Island main trunk railway line for an "inland port" at Wiri, using it as a staging post through which it shifts about 20,000 containers a year by road.
The problem for port authorities is that they have been trying for several years to persuade Ontrack, the Government's rail agency, to build a siding amid rising box volumes so that it could handle more than 100,000 containers each year, with shuttle trains running at night.
However, neither side will disclose how much is needed to develop the siding, although the port company is understood to be requesting funding of NZ$7 million from the government.
The need to remove some of the box traffic from the surrounding port roads has taken on a greater sense of urgency after some residents complained that the heavy trucks roaring past their homes were not just worsening the congestion, but also causing the building foundations to crack.
The grant offered by the nation's Finance Minister Michael Cullen is subject to formal cabinet approval, reports The New Zealand Herald.
Ports of Auckland Ltd is reported to have already spent NZ$19 million to buy and develop 10 hectares of land beside the North Island main trunk railway line for an "inland port" at Wiri, using it as a staging post through which it shifts about 20,000 containers a year by road.
The problem for port authorities is that they have been trying for several years to persuade Ontrack, the Government's rail agency, to build a siding amid rising box volumes so that it could handle more than 100,000 containers each year, with shuttle trains running at night.
However, neither side will disclose how much is needed to develop the siding, although the port company is understood to be requesting funding of NZ$7 million from the government.
The need to remove some of the box traffic from the surrounding port roads has taken on a greater sense of urgency after some residents complained that the heavy trucks roaring past their homes were not just worsening the congestion, but also causing the building foundations to crack.