A rapid scaling up in the six months since has trains calling daily at the site on the eastern boundary of Hamilton, each transporting up to 90 containers on their journey between MetroPort Auckland and Port of Tauranga.
Of the seven trains currently calling at Ruakura each week, fi ve are bringing imported goods containers from MetroPort Auckland, unloading at Ruakura, reloading with New Zealand–made goods, and carrying on the journey to Port of Tauranga for exporting internationally.
The $60-million facility has been more than 15 years in development by Tainui Group Holdings (TGH), the commercial entity of Waikato-Tainui, and is owned and operated in a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Port of Tauranga. The two parties have signed an initial 50-year lease for the port, with Port of Tauranga subsidiary Quality Marshalling to manage the onsite operations.
The JV partners plan to grow the inland port to match customer demand. With four stages in total, the inland port will grow to 30 hectares when fully developed, and will have potential capacity for one million 20-foot-equivalent units of container movements per year, serving the golden triangle of Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland.