There is talk – from a number of quarters – about shifting some of our freight from road to rail. As I remember it, things in 2010 were reasonably similar to today:There was a bias towards road freight, with insufficient use being made of rail – the safety, maintenance and sustainability benefits it provided were largely ignored. On particular roads and parts of the country, people restricted their movements to avoid coming into conflict with heavy trucks. This required a bridge strengthening programme, and it required a more intensive road maintenance programme. At least the Labour government has already indicated it wants to shift some freight to rail in the New Zealand Rail Plan, and mentions the emissions reductions benefits from doing so:At present, freight carried by rail saves at least 70 percent of the carbon emissions compared to heavy road transport, so each tonne of freight that moves from road to rail makes a tangible difference to New Zealand’s carbon footprint.

Source: New Zealand Herald October 18, 2022 09:14 UTC