Southern Link welcomes Government’s endorsement

Southern Link’s partners welcome today’s Government endorsement and $8.2m funding towards railway infrastructure at its new “inland port”.

The 50 hectare inland port is a joint venture between Port Otago and Dynes Group. It is situated on the corner of Dukes and Stedman Roads, near Mosgiel.

Port Otago Chief Executive Kevin Winders says the partnership has been engaging with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Kiwirail and other parties for the past 18 months. “The engagement has been very positive, as key stakeholders recognise that Southern Link delivers a critical piece of regional infrastructure – one that is needed to keep lower South Island exports flowing and the southern economy healthy.”   

Mr Winders says Southern Link is working with Kiwirail over the next few months to finalise commercial agreements that will see construction of a new rail siding at the Southern Link site. “Port Otago is on schedule for a July completion of its own new $13.5m rail siding on the Port Chalmers Container Terminal. The significant investment will improve rail capacity, reduce turnaround times and connect seamlessly with containers coming and going from the new Southern Link siding.”

Dynes Group Managing Director Peter Dynes says Stage 1 of Southern Link – container storage and use of existing rail infrastructure on the Dukes Road site – is on track for an October 2025 opening. “The consenting process is underway for Stage 2, which involves 50 hectares adjacent to the Stage 1 footprint. Stage 2 construction is expected to begin in mid/late 2026. Southern Link is investing $200m in logistics infrastructure and warehousing, and has committed funding in place for Stages 2 and 3 of the project.”

The two partners – Dynes Group and Port Otago – have committed to being the cornerstone tenants. Southern Link is engaged with other prospective tenants and customers for Stages 2 and 3 and further announcements will be made in coming months.  

About Port Otago:

Port Otago’s Port Chalmers Container Terminal sits alongside a 14m deep channel within the sheltered Otago Harbour, making it Always Open to shipping. The channel and harbour defences can accommodate today’s 6000TEU container ships and the larger 10,000TEU ships expected in coming years. However, the Port Chalmers site is currently constrained by a lack of landside infrastructure to hold a buffer stock of empty containers and full export containers ready for shipping. Additional space is needed to meet the future supply chain demands of lower South Island exporters. Port Otago operates two inland depots – at Dunedin and Ravensbourne. Both depots will be consolidated into Southern Link, freeing up 4 hectares of industrial Dunedin land for development.

Dynes Group:

Dynes Transport Group owns Icon Logistics, which currently operates from six sites across Southland/Otago. It has 26,000m2 of warehousing spread over five warehouses. These sites and warehouses will relocate to a single purpose-built facility at Southern Link, including 30,000m2 of new warehousing.