Preparing for Peak Season: Operational Pānui October 2026

As we head into the domestic freight peak season, KiwiRail is preparing to support reliable delivery across the network. In this update:

Domestic peak season – getting ready together
Updates to upcoming Block of Lines - key dates
Container Terminal site hours - Christmas and New Years 2026
Interislander Commercial Vehicle Timetables – September to December 2026
Customer support – who to contact

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Domestic peak season: getting ready together

As we prepare for peak, we've taken several steps to ensure we're responding to increased demand. What we're doing:

How you can help us keep freight moving:

Customers can support a smoother peak by:

booking early – capacity fills quickly during peak
confirming additional volume requirements as soon as possible
ensuring freight is ready to move including pre-advising of accurate weights
securely closing container curtains and/or doors
completing correct Dangerous Goods documentation, placarding, and separation of containers. See the Dangerous Goodsopen_in_new page of our Rail Freight website for more details.

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Block of line update:

With the City Rail Link now open, we’re pleased to advise Auckland network maintenance will be completed through shorter partial Blocks Of Line rather than full network shutdowns.

This Christmas, access will be maintained to Ports of Auckland, Wiri Inland Port, Southdown and MetroPort Auckland (we will discuss road-bridging arrangements with customers who need this.)

BOL update - Labour weekend, Christmas and New Year Network Maintenance Period can be viewed hereopen_in_new.

We also have a Block of Line between Wiri and Pukekohe from 01:00hrs Saturday 7 Nov – 04:00hrs Monday 9 November. The impact for Domestic customers will be minimal, and we’ll advise customers directly if there are any changes to their usual freight cut-off times.

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Container Terminal site hours

Labour Weekend and Canterbury anniversary hours can be viewed hereopen_in_new.

Christmas + New Year 2026 can be viewed here.open_in_new

Interislander Commercial Vehicle Timetables

September to December Interislander CV timetable can be viewed hereopen_in_new.

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Customer support - how to contact us

Rail Freight Customer Services team call 0800 351 351.

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

· For urgent queries please call us.

· Alternatively send us an email and we’ll respond within two hours.

Emails

domestic@kiwirail.co.nz for our National Domestic Team

imex@kiwirail.co.nz for our North Island IMEX Team

southbookings@kiwirail.co.nz for our South Island IMEX Team

bulk@kiwirail.co.nz for our National Bulk & Forestry Team

Interislander Freight Customer Services team call 0800 660 670.

Interislander Freight call centre hours:

7:30am – 7:30pm Monday to Friday

8.30am – 2.30pm Saturdays and public holidays.

Email freight@interislander.co.nz

Thank you for continuing to work with us to keep freight moving safely and efficiently.

Ngā manaakitanga,

KiwiRail Freight