WASHINGTON: Lyttelton Port officially opened its new “inland port” called MidlandPort at Rolleston 20 kilometres south of Christchurch, heralding a new era for container freight. About 130 people attended the function including Labour Leader Andrew Little, and Selwyn MP Amy Adams. MidlandPort is directly across the highway from an Izone Business Park facility recently opened by joint partners Port of Tauranga and Port of Timaru which aim to wrest trade away from Lyttelton.
Both rivals both say their new rail sidings and aggregation centres will reduce empty container movements and mean fewer truck journeys. Lyttelton Port chairman Trevor Burt said the opening provided a container trade connection from Rolleston to Lyttelton and 14 shipping lines. Burt said major customers included Westland Milk Products and The Warehouse , which have distribution and collection centres at Rolleston’s Izone Business Park along with many other businesses. Lyttelton’s rail siding handles 30 wagon trains and is operating one train trip a day but he expected this to increase.
There is a customs controlled area and MPI transitional facility, as well as space for 168 refrigerated containers. Burt said Lyttelton had a 50 per cent increase in container volumes in the past five years and handled more than half the South Island’s container volume, including more than 70 per cent of imports.
