North Auckland Line Business Case Te Whakamahukitanga ā-Pakihi mō te Rerewhenua ki Tāmaki ki Te Raki

The business case explored the merits of upgrading rail in Northland and constructing a new section of track to connect Northport to the NAL, known as the MPL.

From an original shortlist of 11 options, the business case examined 4 main options in depth:

• do nothing
• renew the existing line to Kauri
• renew the existing line to Otiria and construct a connection to Northport
• open up access again for tourist-oriented services.

Option 3 was recommended for further exploration and the business case also considered:

• whether the preferred option represented the best value for money
• what the commercial viability of the proposal was
• if the investment proposal was affordable
• the best way to successfully deliver the proposal.

The cost

The business case identified that it would cost roughly NZD$438 million for the NAL and NZD$329 million to construct the MPL. Construction for all components would take at least 4 years to complete. It would cost an estimated NZD$32 million to re-open the Dargaville branch line from the NAL.

Business case conclusions

The most compelling case for renewing the NAL and constructing the MPL is based on 3 major benefits:

• the significant medium- to long-term strategic and resilience value of providing a second high-quality connection that links Northport to Auckland
• better access to Northland for land transport to help the Northland region grow and develop —rail is only part of the transport solution in this case
• delivering the Government’s land transport objectives of reducing carbon emissions, crash risk, congestion, road maintenance costs, and increasing the transport options.

In collaboration with KiwiRail, we also held 3 hui in March 2019. These were held in Otiria, Whangārei and Te Hana.

The feedback from attendees was incorporated into the business case.

In 2018 the Ministers of Transport and Regional Economic Development asked us to look at the case for investing in rail in Northland, including building the MPL.

The business case we commissioned was funded by the Provincial Growth Fund. At the same time the fund also provided funding for complementary work by KiwiRail Ltd to investigate the condition of the NAL, how much it would cost to renew and the cost of building the MPL.

The case for Northland

Northland is widely acknowledged as a region that needs regional development assistance to reach its full social and economic potential. For this reason, Northland has been identified as a region for prioritised investment. As substantial investment is needed to provide a reliable and modern rail system in Northland that also connects to the port at Marsden Point, the Government asked for an analysis of the costs and benefits of any potential public investment. 

A rail connection, as part of general improvements to land transport connections, would help to include Northland more in the upper North Island growth triangle — Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Auckland.

Scope

The Terms of Reference set out the task of developing a business case that considered the costs and benefits of:

• bringing all the NAL up to a standard that could carry modern freight
• allowing passenger services south of Whāngārei, and
• constructing a branch line to Northport.

Reference group

During the project we convened and chaired a Northland Rail Stakeholder Reference Group made up of local business interests, local government and central government agencies. The group met every 6 to 8 weeks as we developed the business case.