10 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE PORT ISSUE - FROM NZ HERALD

1. That wall of containers on port land at the bottom of the Strand: they're empty. Any stack three of more high is just storage.

2. The working group talked to 78 companies in the freight business, or impacted by it, and over 90 per cent said they wanted better rail services.

3. The price of goods does not go up, in general, the further they have to travel. Christmas toys cost the same in Ashburton as they do in Auckland. This is because prices are not usually set on a cost-plus basis. So the idea that a longer supply line will increase costs to consumers is debatable, at best.

4. If moving the port and transferring freight haulage to rail succeeds, Auckland probably won't need a new harbour crossing for decades.

5. Short of closing all schools, moving the port would reduce traffic on Auckland roads more than any other single measure.

6. The Port of Tauranga has not been ignored or rejected. The plan says it should expand quickly and take up what capacity it can. But there are geographic constraints. Northport has the bigger potential.

7. The Auckland port currently employs 500 people. But not for much longer. Most of the container operation will be automated, probably next year.

8. Ports of Auckland and consultancy NZIER say GDP will fall by $1.3 billion if goods have to enter the country at Northport and Tauranga and be rail freighted to Auckland. That's an analysis of transport costs, and is disputed by the working group. Further, it doesn't take account of the opportunity cost of keeping the port at Auckland or of developing the whole of Northland on the back of Northport.

9. A 1000-tonne train with a diesel engine can take the load of 30 large trucks, with only a third of the carbon emissions. Emissions from an electrified train are much less again.

10. How many cars can you get on a train? So many, this many - picture shows hundreds.