Ports of Auckland is opening an intermodal freight hub in Triton Avenue in Mount Maunganui later this year.

The company has teamed with transport logistics experts Toll Group and land owner Triton Pacific to build the remaining infrastructure required at the site, and Toll will operate the freight hub on behalf of Ports of Auckland.

The site of Ports of Auckland's new Mount Maunganui branch. Photo: File.

While 1.4 hectares will be developed for the freight hub initially, there is an option to develop further capacity.

The land is adjacent to a rail siding and will be developed to include a rail connection, container handling facilities and other value-added logistics services.

The operation is dependent on the rail siding being brought up to capacity, which is expected to happen later this year, says Ports of Auckland head of communications Matt Ball.

The land owner is Triton Pacific Ltd, with Bay of Plenty regional councillor Doug Owens listed as director. The regional council is the majority shareholder in the Port of Tauranga.

The site is part of the former Mount Action Centre, which neighbours Toll logistics. The facility was once the headquarters of Doug's father Sir Robert Owens' freight forwarding and marshalling operations.

The original Owens Services Bay of Plenty operation was a cargo and materials handling company based in Mount Maunganui, and the operations remained in Bob Owens' hands until he died in 1999.

In 2003, Owens Group Ltd was taken over by Mainfreight, with Bob's unlisted private company Owens Services (BOP) Limited being purchased by Port of Tauranga in 2002. Owens Services (BOP) Limited has since changed its name to C3 Limited.

'Bay of Plenty exporters will now have an easy-to-access choice of ports through which they can export their goods,” says Ports of Auckland Chief Executive Tony Gibson.

'Competition is a good thing. Our Bay of Plenty freight hub will help make New Zealand exporters more competitive on the world stage by making their access to global markets more efficient and easy.

'The development of Ports of Auckland's third intermodal freight hub is part of a concerted strategy to invest in a network of freight hubs across the North Island.”

Ports of Auckland has inland freight hubs at Wiri, South Auckland, Longburn, Manawatu and now Mount Maunganui.

Toll New Zealand Managing Director, Greg Miller, says Toll is excited to be partnering with Ports of Auckland on the new freight hub, in what could turn out be the preferred way to complement existing port capabilities across New Zealand.

'Toll has a long history of offering its customers end-to-end supply chain solutions, and we look forward to working with Ports of Auckland to provide more choice and ultimately better service for Bay of Plenty exporters,” says Greg.

The Port of Tauranga has been running an inland port in Auckland for the last 16 years, says Port of Tauranga chief executive officer Mark Cairns. Port of Tauranga's full year results are out on Thursday.