Freight demand on New Zealand‘s busiest domestic sea route, Auckland to Christchurch, has doubled following the massive Kaikoura earthquake on 14 November.

Ports of Auckland (POAL), Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) and KiwiRail have joined forces to provide fast, efficient and sustainable movement of domestic freight from Auckland to Christchurch.

Extra capacity has been opened up at the ports and KiwiRail is ramping up rail services from the ports‘ inland hubs to make the most efficient use of the shipping capacity on the Auckland to Lyttelton freight route.

KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said this was one of a number of initiatives being deployed to get New Zealand moving again.

“We‘ve been working very closely with our partners to offer an integrated approach to getting freight flowing in the South Island. This will get non time-sensitive freight volumes moving from Auckland down to Lyttelton, which will assist to relieve some pressure on roads.”