Quote Originally Posted by Balance View Post
The economics of shifting the port from Auckland to Northland are actually very compelling. Just the savings from shifting all those trucks off Auckland roads and the motorway alone has been estimated to be in the billions of dollars in building new roads and maintaining existing roads, relieving traffic congestion and logistics savings.

Remember that there is already an Auckland inland port in Otahuhu which receives containers and goods by rail and trucks, and trans-ship to other parts of Auckland and North Island - saving hugely on transportation time and cost. Hamilton is looking to build an inland port for precisely the same reason.

Not too difficult to build an upgraded rail link as there is already one in place.

an article on the subject. http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/loca...g-in-whangarei

Might not be overly difficult to get a spur line out to Marsden point but the real issue lies in how to get the freight thru West Auckland. To get the logs off the road a fair amount of work will need to be done on the mothballed line north of Whangarei too so a bit of infrastructure dollars needed. Not saying its a bad idea but if you are going to bring ports of Auckland to Ruakaka its not really an either or decision, both roading and rail are required.