Ferry passengers set for three years in temporary Wellington terminal
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Interislander ferry passengers will spend about three years using a temporary terminal in Wellington as one of the first steps in the long-awaited redevelopment of the port's ageing ferry facilities starts.
CentrePort Ltd has lodged a resource consent application with Wellington City Council for the earthworks needed to establish a temporary passenger terminal.
The building will be adjacent to the existing Interislander Ferry Terminal on land currently used for vehicle circulation and parking.
The consent application covered the earthworks needed to prepare the site, with excavation expected to take between two and four weeks. Those works were scheduled to begin in August, before a concrete foundation is poured for the temporary building.
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Construction of the temporary terminal and associated site office was expected to take about four months, with the facilities due to be completed by November.
Once operational, the temporary building will become the main gateway for Interislander passengers while the existing terminal is redeveloped.
The temporary facility will include passenger check-in, ticketing and baggage handling facilities, a waiting area, public amenities and back-of-house offices and staff rooms.
It is expected to remain in place until the permanent terminal is completed, which is anticipated to be in 2029.
The resource consent application said the temporary structures were essential to maintaining ferry services throughout construction of the permanent terminal, allowing passenger operations to continue while work is carried out on the existing site.
The temporary terminal forms part of the broader redevelopment of Wellington's Interislander facilities, which is expected to eventually deliver a new permanent passenger terminal designed to accommodate the next generation of Cook Strait ferries.
If approved, the consent would allow site preparation to begin next month, with passengers expected to start using the temporary terminal once construction is completed later this year.
New rail-enabled ferries and upgraded ports in Wellington and Picton were expected to be running in 2029 with a price tag of $1.9 billion.