Moving another 100,000 tonnes of logs by rail from the Wairarapa to CentrePort benefits the region and means 6000 fewer truck trips annually, Forestry and Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones says.

Jones, along with representatives from KiwiRail, CentrePort, the forestry sector, and councils, attended an event in Masterton this week to mark the start of larger log trains from the Waingawa rail hub, which will be able to carry 40 percent more logs to Wellington‘s port.

“The industry has been clear there is a lot of potential to grow harvest export volumes from the Wairarapa, but not without beefing up the supply chain. KiwiRail has stepped up, adding wagons to their trains to carry around 100,000 tonnes more logs to CentrePort each year,” Jones said.

“Not only are these log trains supporting the forestry industry to get its goods to market, the increased rail capacity reduces carbon emissions and will see 6000 fewer logging truck trips annually across the Remutakas and into central Wellington.

“Log harvests in the south eastern section of the North Island are predicted to increase to 1.65 million tonnes in the next five years and stay that way into the 2030s. Trucks alone won‘t be able to manage the future harvest volumes.”

KiwiRail Group chief executive Greg Miller said this was a great example of taking a multi-modal approach to transport.

“Trucks transport logs from the forest to the Waingawa hub but rail covers 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.”

Through the Provincial Growth Fund, the government has invested $6.2 million in reopening the Napier-Wairoa line and establishing a log hub at Wairoa. There‘s also $4 million funding earmarked for a log hub in Dannevirke, and $40 million for a road-rail freight hub near Palmerston North.

“This mode neutral approach helps realise the Government‘s ambitions to grow our forestry sector, reduce emissions, and get rail back on track,” Jones said.

Last year KiwiRail transported approximately 270,000 tonnes of logs from the Waingawa hub. By increasing the number of wagons from 30 to 45 across the two daily services to Wellington, this enables approximately 370,000 tonnes to be transported to port annually.