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KiwiRail sees strong growth at Southdown Freight Terminal

KiwiRail's key Auckland rail freight terminal at Southdown has shown a 20 percent increase in container through-put in the past financial year, demonstrating a welcome endorsement by customers for the strategic direction being taken by the company.

During the 12 months from July 1 2010 to June 31st 2011, the 42-strong Southdown team managed a total of 272,822 TEU, compared with 227,337 for the previous 12 months.

This growth places Southdown as a strong challenger to the Port of Lyttleton as the third busiest container terminal in the country behind the Ports of Auckland and Tauranga.

Customers for whom speed to market is critical are recognising the strengths of the site, says KiwiRail's freight operations manager Aaron Temperton.

"It's central location close to several major freight forwarding customers and the motorway network, combined with quick turn-around times and the economies of scale rail can bring to the supply chain are all factors that work in its favour."

The site is set up to maximise through put and truck turn-around times are averaging 16.5 minutes which is well within international best practise guidelines.

*NZIER's "Port Performance & Ownership" report of August 2010 cites port 2009 throughputs as follows:

• Auckland: 850,000 TEU
• Tauranga: 550,000 TEU
• Lyttelton: 260,000 TEU
• Otago: 218,000 TEU