Businesses and freight companies that chose to transport their goods by rail saved nearly 230,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in the last financial year.
KiwiRail’s latest data has shown that in the financial year ending the 30th of June, 2024, goods carried on rail reduced transport CO2 emissions by 229,434 tonnes compared with the emissions that would have been created carrying those products by trucks.
Rail also avoided a million heavy truck trips, easing road congestion, reducing road maintenance costs and saving 84.7 million litres of fuel.
KiwiRail Chief Customer and Growth Officer Adele Wilson said the latest figures highlighted the value of rail to New Zealand.
“Rail is a key part of an integrated national freight transport system. It’s not about rail versus road but the two modes working seamlessly together,” said Wilson.
“One freight train can carry the same amount of freight as 40 trucks - an efficient way to move large quantities of goods over long distances. In a rail context, the road is essential in moving freight to and from the rail head.
Rail has a clear role in helping reduce overall transport emissions and helping New Zealand meet its emission reduction targets.
“The message is that the more we choose rail, the greater the environmental benefits.”
Successive Governments have made significant investments in improving the national rail network's standard, and KiwiRail has replaced these ageing locomotives with new low-emission diesel locos.
“As part of our long-term network improvement programme, KiwiRail is working hard to provide better service to freight customers and logistics companies who need sustainable, urgent freight transport solutions.”
These investments will not only further reduce rail emissions but also provide improved reliability, which will give logistics companies and other businesses confidence to use rail more.
The general economic downturn has affected all sectors of the freight market, but KiwiRail continued to look for opportunities to work with logistics companies and other customers to grow rail volumes for the benefit of New Zealand.
In the last year, KiwiRail has carried beer for Mainfreight on behalf of Matakana’s Sawmill Brewery. Moving their freight to the South Island by rail reduced Sawmill’s transport emissions on the vital freight route between Auckland and Christchurch by 60 per cent.
KiwiRail worked with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners New Zealand to build a new rail siding at its Mt Wellington (Auckland) factory, significantly increasing rail capacity for volumes to Palmerston North.
It connected the rail to Tainui Group Holdings’ Ruakura Inland Port, which saw thousands of containers moved for Nexus Logistics on behalf of a major retailer.
It also worked with the Wareing Group and Ashburton District Council to connect the new Fairfield Freight Hub near Ashburton. This has been a crucial railroad hub for Canterbury, enabling rail capacity from the hub to Lyttelton Port to grow from 6,000 to 20,000 containers a year.
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