Marsden Point Rail Link: Where's it at?

News about the long proposed Marsden Point Rail Link, a new branch line in Northland linking the North Auckland Line at Oakleigh with the deep water port at Marsden Point, has been scarce in recent years. Things went quiet on the subject in 2009, which was of course, the first year of the new government, and many, including myself, came to believe it had dropped off the radar.

Unfortunately that assessment is somewhat true, in that the push to have it actually built, has diminished, for the time being at least.  However, the good news is that the planning process did in fact continue.  In October 2009, Northland Regional Council issued its decision to grant the resource consent, and the Whangarei District Council issued its favourable recommendation to confirm the designation.  Shortly after, in November 2009, KiwiRail released its decision to confirm the designation.

This enabled the final round of submissions and appeals, being worked through until there were only five appeals remaining.  In June 2010 an Environment Court hearing was held, which ultimately lead to one appeal being withdrawn, another struck off, and three going into a settlement process.

In April 2012, the Environment Court issued consent to KiwiRail for the Oakleigh to Marsden Point rail link.

Now, in 2013, there is a continuous and fully designated rail corridor from Oakleigh to Marsden Point, and all of the land is now owned by the council for the purpose of building the railway.

While it's true the first sod has not been turned, it is heartening to know that a new rail corridor was successfully established, and it means that if a decision is ever made to proceed with construction, it could begin almost immediately.

But what chance is there currently, of the line actually being built?  Northland Port Corporation reiterated their plans for a container terminal on 23rd October 2013, and the rail link is part of the plan.  Certainly they want the link.  But they are hamstrung to a degree, by their conflicting ownership.

Issues working against the project appear to be:

• The port owners include Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga, both of whom have established operations already.
• Lack of any priority by KiwiRail, who are occupied with getting their existing network up to scratch.
• Potential inability of the North Auckland Line to be competitive with the NIMT and ECMT route between Auckland and Tauranga.  It can be upgraded, but will still require substantially lower load schedules due to the gradients, resulting in higher freight rates than can be offered on the Tauranga route.

However, there may be a case for the line being worthwhile, even if the movement of containers to and from Auckland is a minimal contribution overall.  Logs from throughout Northland are moved to the port in large quantities, that, if railed from transfer sites could require three trains a day from Otiria, two from Dargaville, and one from Wellsford.  Then there is large quantities of coal from the port to Portland, woodchips from Portland to the port, and fertiliser from the port to Whangarei.

A private siding into the Carter Holt Harvey Laminated Veneer mill at Marsden Point could also potentially provide sizeable tonnages.

Lastly, there is a need to replace the 170km long Marsden Point to Auckland oil pipeline within the next decade.  This pipeline carries 2.2 million tonnes of petroleum products per year.  Unlike the original pipeline, built 30 years ago, the new one will be constructed in an era of significantly stricter environmental guidelines, and is likely to cost approximately $200m.  Could there be a case for moving the oil by rail instead?  If not, could there at least be a case for moving oil by rail for North Island distribution beyond Auckland, instead of coastal shipping with its greater environmental risks?

The potential for a very busy railway is there.  But the port needs to do better in formulating a business case that will get the attention of KiwiRail and the government alike.

To quote North Port chairman Sir John Goulter from Northland Port Corporation's annual general meeting last month "We have some exciting plans long term. There is a long-term plan that does include containerisation......and possibly we have not taken this out to the general public as much as we should have. Maybe we should be down there and better explain what we can do......Maybe we have been too passive in that regard".

I hope this line gets built.  It could not only gain existing tonnage, but its construction would also lead to much more business being established at Marsden Point.  For KiwiRail, it could eventually be the next Mount Maunganui.