KiwiRail Budget and Turnaround Plan

[eurokiwi78]

I support Clifford bay because the transport corridor is more important than a couple of cafes and a.fish n chip shop in picton that might get less customers.

[locost_bryan]

I support Clifford bay because the transport corridor is more important than a couple of cafes and a.fish n chip shop in picton that might get less customers.

Picton and the Sounds will develop into a proper tourist destination, rather than just be a rest stop on the way from Wellington to Christchurch. Tourists doing the southern circuit will still go there, likely will even spend more time and money.

[greenwelly]

Picton and the Sounds will develop into a proper tourist destination, rather than just be a rest stop on the way from Wellington to Christchurch. Tourists doing the southern circuit will still go there, likely will even spend more time and money.

+1, it will take 10 years, which will be tough on the communities, but in the long run getting the freight yards out of downtown picton will be the best thing for the place,

[Cogload]

Presuambly bike track/ trail of some description north of Blenheim, I cant see why KR would keep the line open to Picton unless somebody bungs them a few quid in regards to a scenic passenger train exercise....

[geoff_184]

Presuambly bike track/ trail of some description north of Blenheim, I cant see why KR would keep the line open to Picton unless somebody bungs them a few quid in regards to a scenic passenger train exercise....

I would think that for as long as Picton remains a freight port, they'll keep the line there, albeit mothballed. There's a big log yard at Shakespare Bay that could potentially be of relevance some day as well.

[eurokiwi78]

Good run for some heritage steam outfit perhaps, especially if picton rebranded as a tourist town.

[greenwelly]

Golf carts for going shopping in the metropolis of Blenheim

[pickle]

I tend to support the Clifford Bay proposal. Unlike what john-ston has said, it is not "people in Picton moaning about the wake" but it is actually serious environmental issues caused by wake. Hence why the Lynx services were dropped. I actually feel for Picton as it's actually a really nice place - one of New Zealand's best small towns in my opinion and its quite underrated actually. You can go on a ride-on train circuit for 50 cents or hire a model yacht for 20 cents. But it'd be fantastic if Picton could rebrand itself as a nice tourist stop over with the terminal being moved to Clifford Bay.

[Rolls-Royce]

Things could be taking a turn for the worst for rail in NZ with the latest turn in the Turnaround Plan:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829069

[vworp]

Things could be taking a turn for the worst for rail in NZ with the latest turn in the Turnaround Plan:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829069

AKA National setting Kiwirail up to change their name to Kiwifail.

[royce]

AKA National setting Kiwirail up to change their name to Kiwifail.

I think the govt is getting quite spooked about the Aluminium Smelter electricity contract, the fall in the coal price, the threat of Indonesian coal being used for the Glenbrook steel mill and the halving of production at the Kawerau newsprint plant. None of these are good news for the economy or Kiwirail. And it is not helping their asset sales program.
Apparently Indonesian coal is already being imported for the Glenbrook mill through the Port of Auckland and it is being trucked to Glenbrook. I missed it because Port of Auckland doesnt show what cargo is being unloaded on their website. Only the name of the ships.

[mango]

Does anyone know WTF is going on with the infrastructure plan? KR has repeatedly said that there will be no reduction in maitainence spending. Is this just misrepresentation of a draft document? I understand the oposition using it as a stick to beat the govenment with (national would do exactly the same). I also sort of understand KR getting on injuction (although I disagree with secrecy on priciple) if it is a draft that dosen't fairly represent KR's actual plans. The quickest way to lay all this to rest is for KR to tell us the current and future maintainence budgets, no reduction or an increse = no problem. I does seem that KR has become the political football of the month wich pisses me off as there are plenty of other things to hammer national with. Coupled with the media's passing aquaintence with facts and KR's somewhat poor PR management the whole thing looks to be a complete shambles with the truth getting comletely lost.
Thus endeth my rant. I'm sure that there will turn out to be no problem in the end but we will have to put up with more heat than light from the media for the time being.

[jeepney]

Things could be taking a turn for the worst for rail in NZ with the latest turn in the Turnaround Plan:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829069

AKA National setting Kiwirail up to change their name to Kiwifail.

If that was the case, i doubt they would be ploughing hundreds of millions of dollars into the business.

[royce]

vworp wrote:
Rolls-Royce wrote:
Things could be taking a turn for the worst for rail in NZ with the latest turn in the Turnaround Plan:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829069


AKA National setting Kiwirail up to change their name to Kiwifail.


If that was the case, i doubt they would be ploughing hundreds of millions of dollars into the business.

The market is changing to the worse as I outlined above. It would be a bit stupid to just charge on regardless unless the govt was to put in more money above the $750 million. Which they obviously and quite understandably dont want to do.
So ethier Kiwirail needs to increase revenue or cutback. Or a bit of both I would have thought.

[mango]

As I suspected it now seems that we are dealing with the misinterpretation of an engineering document by people who had no idea what they were looking at.
Jim Quinn will be giving a press conference this afternoon about the document and putting the content in context. I still think the injunction was a bad idea. It seems that KR's PR people are not totally hopeless after all and told them to nip this in the bud ASAP. It never rang true to me anyway. Even national is not insane enough to invest in rail than put the invesment at risk by skimping on maintainence although they are still mad as hatters on other aspects of transport policy.

[Ratchet]

Things could be taking a turn for the worst for rail in NZ with the latest turn in the Turnaround Plan:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829069

AKA National setting Kiwirail up to change their name to Kiwifail.

More like Key Wee Rail

[john-ston]

Unlike what john-ston has said, it is not "people in Picton moaning about the wake" but it is actually serious environmental issues caused by wake.

Bulls**t - it was a bunch of people opposed to progress who moaned. What should have been done back then was the construction of Clifford Bay - that way, luddites can have their livelihoods taken away.

As I suspected it now seems that we are dealing with the misinterpretation of an engineering document by people who had no idea what they were looking at.
Jim Quinn will be giving a press conference this afternoon about the document and putting the content in context. I still think the injunction was a bad idea. It seems that KR's PR people are not totally hopeless after all and told them to nip this in the bud ASAP. It never rang true to me anyway. Even national is not insane enough to invest in rail than put the invesment at risk by skimping on maintainence although they are still mad as hatters on other aspects of transport policy.

Sadly, it all comes down to poor leadership. When I saw the interview with Jim Quinn, he did not come across as a leader. Someone like Rob Fyfe would be much better in the KiwiRail CEO role.

[Cogload]

http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publi ... 3-2015.pdf

Here it is. In all it's glory..

[Rolls-Royce]

http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/Infrastructure%20and%20Engineering%20Business%20Plan%202013-2015.pdf

Here it is. In all it's glory..

Disgusting reading. I can see why KiwiRail wanted to gag the release of this document to the media. It is basically a plan for the systematic running down of the rail system. It is going to be like the later years of the Tranz Rail era all over again. The rail system will be allowed to run down to the point where KiwiRail will say, it is going to cost too much for us to keep open, so we will close it - or else expect the Government to pay out large sums of money to keep lines / services / facilities open which are deemed to be in the national interest.

I really feel for all the rail staff which have an axe hovering over their jobs as well - Christchurch and Hillside, and many infrastructure staff all over the country. So much for National's promise of creating more jobs. Here it is forcing a SOE to slash jobs in a recession. The Government should be using and encouraging SOEs to employ more people around the country.

The North Auckland Line appears to have a reprieve with the line to be retained between Auckland and Whangarei, and the Northern Wairarapa Line is to be retained as well. Naiper to Wairoa will be kept open but Wairoa to Gisborne will be mothballed and it sounds as though KiwiRail are looking to lease out the Gisborne end of the line to local interests. The Dargaville Branch is likely to be shut. The Rotorua and Taneatua Branches are going to be kept mothballed - would have though it would make sense to close and lift the Taneatua Branch between Edgecumbe and Taneatua.

Most of the third main project in Auckland is to be delayed.

Here is a brief overview of the report in today's Herald:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10829342

Bring on a change of Government. The sooner a Labour-Greens-NZ First Government get into power, the better for rail in NZ.

[john-ston]

Disgusting reading. I can see why KiwiRail wanted to gag the release of this document to the media. It is basically a plan for the systematic running down of the rail system. It is going to be like the later years of the Tranz Rail era all over again.

And here was me thinking that government ownership was meant to prevent that.