Misplaced Pages

New Zealand Railways

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
#300699

50-529: New Zealand Railways may refer to KiwiRail which is the current rail services owner/operator and infrastructure owner/maintainer. New Zealand Railways may also refer to the following companies: KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) responsible for rail operations in New Zealand and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered at 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie , KiwiRail

100-646: A $ 40 million allocation to KiwiRail from the PGF. In 2019, the government began a "Future of Rail" review, and in December 2019 released a draft New Zealand Rail Plan, outlining changes it proposed making to the rail transport industry and KiwiRail specifically. The draft plan proposes a number of major changes, the most significant being future funding of the rail network through the National Land Transport Fund, and charging rail operators to use

150-404: A base track access fee but left future track access fees open to negotiation between ONTRACK and Toll. After several years of negotiations, the two parties could not come to an agreement on the amount that Toll should pay. On 1 July 2008, the government announced the purchase for $ 690 million of Toll Rail, the rail and ferry assets of Toll NZ, but not its trucking operation, which continued under

200-639: A joint venture with the Northland Regional Council to build a branch line (the Marsden Point Branch ) to connect to Northport at Marsden Point. Anchor freight customers: Key anchor customers include Fonterra, Westland Dairy Products (Rolleston and Hokitika), Bathurst resources and the various freight forwarders including Mainfreight and port companies including Port of Tauranga. Freight wagons: KiwiRail operates 4,855 wagons . An additional 120 wagons were acquired in

250-936: A large client, Giant Bicycles , intentions to end corporate ties with the group. In August 2013, Mainfreight and the family of Wim Bosman reached an out of court agreement for compensation to the tune of €8.2 million or $ 14 million. Since 2011, Mainfreight, under the Wim Bosman name, have opened new branches in Bergen op Zoom in The Netherlands, Cluj-Napoca in Romania, Frankfurt and Gelsenkirchen in Germany, London in United Kingdom, and Poznań / Luboń in Poland. Mainfreight also renamed Wim Bosman branches in

300-476: A position he held until 1 July 2010. Bolger's government had privatised New Zealand Rail Limited in 1993. A number of commentators, including Winston Peters , view this as ironic. In response, Bolger acknowledged his involvement in privatising New Zealand Rail, remarking that "my life is full of ironies," and added that "the world has changed." In 2011, KiwiRail proposed splitting its land and rail corridor assets from its rail operation assets. On 27 June 2012 it

350-1361: A total of 17 rail freight depots. In the North Island, these are Whangārei , Auckland, Hamilton , Tauranga, New Plymouth, Napier, Whanganui , Palmerston North , Masterton and Wellington . In the South Island they are Blenheim, Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill. Inland Ports : KiwiRail serves a number of Inland Port yards, although does not own the tracks. These include Conlinxx (Wiri), Midland Port (Rolleston), Longburn International Freight Hub (Longburn, Palmerston North), Manawatu Inland Port (Palmerston North), MetroPort (Southdown in Auckland and Rolleston in Christchurch) and will include Ruakura (Hamilton) when it opens in 2019, and Ports of Auckland's site at Horotiu in Hamilton. Sea Ports : KiwiRail has major freight yards and sidings at Lyttelton port Company ( containers , logs , coal ), Port Chalmers (containers), Southport (Bluff), Timaru, Port of Tauranga (Mt Maunganui and Sulphur Point), Ports of Auckland, CentrePort (Wellington) , Port of Napier and New Plymouth. KiwiRail also has

400-453: Is a major land owner in New Zealand, and manages over 18 thousand hectares of land, has in excess of 1,500 property assets with a combined value of over $ 965 million (Annual Report 2016). Increasingly, KiwiRail is pursuing a commercial approach to asset management, and in the 2016 financial year received over $ 18 million from property sales. Re-branded along with Interislander as the single brand The Great Journeys of New Zealand in 2017, it

450-408: Is a well respected, profitable organisation which will provide Mainfreight with a significant European presence and opportunity to further grow its supply chain logistic services throughout the world." In June 2013, Mainfreight launched a lawsuit seeking €11 million or $ 18 million against Wim Bosman Group's former owners. The lawsuit claimed that Wim Bosman, the former owner, had prior knowledge of

500-401: Is currently, as of January 2022, unclear what direction KiwiRail intends to take, Project Restart suggests a shift to multi-day land-cruises, a form of Experiential tourism . This decision, or potential decision, has been seen by many New Zealand-based transport advocacy groups as an abandonment of interregional rail by KiwiRail. Campaign for Better Transport described it as the "latest stage in

550-543: Is now experiencing rapid double-digit annual growth, due to the growth of Chinese tourism to New Zealand, so much so that KiwiRail in 2017 may purchase an additional eight carriages to the 17 AK carriages purchased in 2012. In 2021, following a decline in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, KiwiRail announced the suspension of the Coastal Pacific and Northern Explorer as part of Project Restart '22. While it

SECTION 10

#1732772661301

600-523: Is responsible for consists of: The Engineering division provides mechanical assistance to the Freight and Passenger businesses, as well as to Auckland Transport. Engineering maintains, refurbishes and occasionally builds rolling stock for the network. In 2012, KiwiRail announced it was putting its Hillside Engineering division on the market. and subsequently sold part of the division and transferred remaining work to Hutt workshops. KiwiRail now operates

650-507: Is the company's largest business unit, making up the majority of KiwiRail's revenue with $ 390 million in the financial year ended July 2016. In the same year, KiwiRail moved around 18 million tonnes of freight and carried about 16% of New Zealand's total freight task (tonnes-km). Traffic grew from 2017 to 2019, dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic and largely recovered in 2022. Freight types: Timber and dairy products formed 60% of

700-532: Is the country's largest logistics company. It has been listed on the New Zealand Exchange since 1996. Mainfreight New Zealand (NZ) Mainfreight was founded on 6 March 1978 by Bruce Plested who started the company with just $ 7,200 and a 1969 Bedford truck . In 1979, Bruce Plested partnered with Neil Graham, with Graham based in Christchurch and Plested in Auckland. When the company

750-542: Is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand . KiwiRail has business units of KiwiRail Freight, Great Journeys New Zealand and Interislander . The company was formed in 2008 when the government renationalised above-rail operations (having previously renationalised the network in 2004) and inter-island ferry operations, then owned by Toll Holdings. In 2021, the government launched the New Zealand Rail Plan, with funding for rail projects to come from

800-555: Is the long-distance passenger transport subsidiary of KiwiRail, operating the Northern Explorer , TranzAlpine and Coastal Pacific . The passenger trains are predominantly patronised by tourists to NZ, with the exception of the Capital Connection, which is a commuter train. In 2012, KiwiRail attempted to sell Tranz Scenic , but was unsuccessful, and KiwiRail continues to run these services. The division

850-476: The New Zealand Herald , "We moved all our freight by sea between Auckland, and Christchurch and Dunedin , and we worked weekend shifts to make sure we loaded and unloaded the ship using the whole of the seven days - we found that was faster and more reliable than our big competitors." The Australian domestic freight and logistics division started operating as Mainline Distribution in 1989 with

900-564: The 2017 budget the government announced a further $ 450 million in capital funding for KiwiRail, and that the company's operations would be placed under another major review, believed to relate to future funding models. The $ 450 million was earmarked for repairs following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and for further locomotive and rolling stock purchases. As part of the Turnaround Plan's agenda to standardise locomotives and wagons, in 2016 KiwiRail announced it would effectively switch off

950-551: The Hutt Workshops in the Hutt Valley of Wellington , along with a number of small wagon maintenance depots, for example, at Addington (Christchurch) and Frankton. Most rail operations are a 'there and back' service with motive power being held in a few key strategic locations. Motive power stabling yards are as follows: Some of the more prominent rail facilities used by KiwiRail include: The table below lists only

1000-700: The Wairarapa Connection service. Suburban rail passenger operations in Auckland and Wellington are contracted by their respective local governments and not operated by KiwiRail. In Auckland rolling stock is owned by Auckland Transport which has contracted operation to Auckland One Rail , while in Wellington rolling stock is owned by Greater Wellington Regional Council which has contracted operation to Transdev Wellington. The KiwiRail Infrastructure and Engineering division, formerly known as ONTRACK, has three main areas of operation: The network it

1050-572: The European market with the acquisition of Netherlands-based company Wim Bosman Group for € 120 million; or $ 227 million. Headquartered in 's-Heerenberg , The Netherlands , Wim Bosman is privately held and operates more than 1,000 transport units, manage more than 275,000m2 of cross-docking facilities and warehouse area, and employ roughly 1,414 staff within 14 branches located in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Romania, Poland, and Russia. Within its announcement, Mainfreight stated, "Wim Bosman

SECTION 20

#1732772661301

1100-721: The Governments energy and emissions policies, and while the government is also actively considering extending the North Island electrification for the first time since the 1980s. KiwiRail has made use of the Government's Provincial Growth Fund (PGF). In 2019 KiwiRail signed an agreement with the New Zealand Transport Agency , Palmerston North City Council to construct a road, rail and air distribution centre in Palmerston North , following

1150-551: The NIMT electrification in late 2017 and replace the electric locomotives with an additional eight DL locomotives (additional to the 15 as reported in the 2016 Annual Report). On 30 October 2018 that capital funding was made available to by the new Labour-led Coalition government to refurbish 15 of the surviving 20 EF locomotives at the Hutt Workshops extending the service life by 10 years for their continued use, in line with

1200-624: The National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), and with KiwiRail remaining an SOE but paying Track Access Charges (TACs) to use the network. Prior to the establishment of KiwiRail, rail transport in New Zealand has been under both public and private ownership. Government operators included the Public Works Department (1873–1880), New Zealand Railways Department (1880–1982), and the New Zealand Railways Corporation (1982–1990). New Zealand Rail Limited

1250-776: The Palmerston North-Wellington Capital Connection and the SR class carriages, which KiwiRail owns and leases for the Te Huia Hamilton to Auckland regional service. Twelve carriages are also being overhauled to replace the current S class carriages and will be deployed in two sets of six. Mainfreight Mainfreight Limited is a New Zealand logistics and transport company headquartered in Auckland , New Zealand(Ōtara). Mainfreight commenced operations in Auckland in 1978 and

1300-512: The Toll brand. The new company was named KiwiRail and launched on 1 October 2008 at a ceremony at Wellington railway station. The New Zealand Railways Corporation then owned both KiwiRail and ONTRACK, with both companies merging to create one company that controls both rail and ferry operations and rail infrastructure. Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger became the first chair of the KiwiRail board,

1350-781: The United States and an international network of agents in over 70 countries. In May 2011, Mainfreight established a CaroTrans branch in Santiago , Chile. This endeavor launched the first permanent investment into South America. In 2020, CaroTrans Chile was re-branded as Mainfreight Chile. In November 2014, Mainfreight acquired a regional air and sea freight company located in Dunedin. Founded in 1969 as Dunedin Customs Brokers Ltd, DCB International provides international air and sea freight services from Dunedin. DCB had

1400-677: The United States. In 2003 Mainfreight bought Owens Group, one of New Zealand's largest trucking firms. This takeover was in response to the purchase of Tranz Rail by Australian transport firm Toll Holdings . With the takeover of the Owens Group in 2003 they purchased Owens International Australia. In 2006 the New Zealand Mainfreight International and Owens International businesses were also merged to make Mainfreight Owens International Ltd (now Mainfreight International). In March 2011, Mainfreight entered

1450-524: The acquisition of Target Logistics. In 2008, 34 United States locations were re-branded as Mainfreight USA. The Mainfreight Americas network has grown now to having 79 branches located throughout Canada, Mexico, United States, and Chile. In 2023 the Mainfreight USA transportation sector set a new milestone by obtaining their Motor Carrier Authority license leading them to expand their LTL (Less-than-Truckload) ground shipping operations. After

1500-482: The contract to supply 57 new locomotives for KiwiRail. Stadler Rail stated the contract was worth 228 million Euros, or NZD $ 403 million. The 2022 budget allocated $ 661.5 million to KiwiRail, with $ 312.3 million for improving the national rail network and $ 349.2 million for completing the replacement of "ageing" locomotives and freight wagons, including up to 29 new light-duty locomotives. The total government investment increases to $ 8.6 billion. KiwiRail Freight

1550-874: The countries France, Poland, Russia and Ukraine under the Mainfreight name. Between 1994 and 1997 Mainfreight started acquiring former competitors, such as, Daily Freightways and Chem Couriers in 1994, a 75% shareholding in Lep New Zealand in 1996, and Combined Haulage and Senco Haulage in 1997. In 1998, Mainfreight acquired Australian freight forwarder ISS Express lines, subsequently establishing an Australian international freight business. In April 2007, Mainfreight announced its intentions to sell its Pan Orient Project Logistics business and its 75% interest in Lep Australia and New Zealand to global logistics company Agility Group for A$ 83 million. The transaction

New Zealand Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue

1600-475: The current locomotives in service with KiwiRail. The majority of passenger carriages in New Zealand are now owned by Auckland Transport , Greater Wellington Regional Council and Dunedin Railways . KiwiRail operates a small fleet of New Zealand built AK class carriages for long-distance passenger trains and heavily rebuilt former British Mark 2 carriages in several configurations, the S class carriages for

1650-405: The decline of what was once an extensive passenger rail service which serviced most of New Zealand". An announcement is expected by July 2022. Until 2016, KiwiRail division Tranz Metro had the contract to operate the Wellington services but lost a bid to renew this contract in 2015. KiwiRail is sub-contracted by Transdev Wellington to provide and operate the diesel locomotives required to haul

1700-668: The following points: Two of KiwiRail's major customers, Mainfreight and Fonterra , invested heavily in rail-related infrastructure in line with the Turnaround Plan. Mainfreight has allocated $ 60 million for investment in new railhead depots, while Fonterra has invested $ 130 million in a new rail hub complex in Hamilton and another in Mosgiel . The plan has had mixed success, with company Chairman John Spencer stating in 2013 that for its first three years, rail freight revenue had increased by over 25%. Similar progress in attaining new customers and increasing freight volumes has been made over

1750-601: The full acquisition that took place August 2007, Mainfreight Asia quickly gained momentum in the Air and Ocean sector , driving business in China and Southeast Asia. With well-established locations that include China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan and Korea, the Mainfreight global network continues to expand year over year. Mainfreight’s newest regions, Asia, Europe and The Americas (spanning from Canada to South America), are expected to grow exponentially as

1800-536: The government in 2001). The rail network then came under the New Zealand Railways Corporation (trading as ONTRACK). As part of this acquisition, Toll agreed to pay ONTRACK "Track Access Charges" (TACs) in exchange for exclusive network access for 66 years, subject to a "use it or lose it clause": if freight and passenger volumes fell below their 2002-2004 average for three or more years, Toll would lose its exclusive access. The agreement set

1850-471: The life of the Plan to date (other than with coal). Steady and at times rapid progress has been made on the enabling parts of the Turnaround Plan, such as new locomotives and wagons, lengthening of the rail ferry and track destressing, but not always effectively. The 10 Year Turnaround Plan was quickly undermined by a series of adverse events, including: Partially as a response to the events outlined above, in

1900-718: The opening of their first branch in Sydney . Following the success of the Sydney depot, the they started opening branches in the areas of Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Canberra . Mainfreight today now has 74 branches across Australia coast to coast offering a variety of freight services from International operations for ocean imports & exports, air cargo, LCL , FTL , warehousing, movements of hazardous chemicals, tankers, and drayage (port/wharf) divisions. The company partnered with agents and third parties to provide any coverage into Northern Territory , Tasmania , and most rural areas of Australia. Mainfreight International

1950-501: The political conflicts and sanctions in place between Russia and Ukraine , Mainfreight suspended all domestic operations in the two territories. On 11 June 2007, Mainfreight Limited signed a call option deed to acquire all of the shares of Halford International Pty Limited (Halford International), an Australian-based, privately owned, international freight forwsarder and logistics provider. The purchase acquired network offices throughout Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Germany, Asia, and

2000-482: The rail network via Track Access Charges. A number of other projects are proposed under the draft plan. They include a new train control centre in Auckland, replacing two Interislander ferries and rolling stock. On 17 March 2020 KiwiRail released a tender for the supply of new mainline locomotives. 2021 New Zealand budget allocated NZD $ 722.7 million to purchase new mainline locomotives, shunt locomotives and wagons. In October 2021, Stadler Rail announced it had won

2050-625: The single brand The Great Journeys of New Zealand in 2017, The Interislander is the company's second largest business unit. It operates ferry services across Cook Strait between Wellington in the North Island and Picton in the South Island . In the financial year 2012, $ 123.9M of KiwiRail's revenue came from the Interislander, with the majority of the Interislander's revenue coming from rail and road freight transport. KiwiRail

New Zealand Railways - Misplaced Pages Continue

2100-410: The tonnage moved in 2022. Bulk commodities include coal, logs, milk ( dry and wet ), IMEX (import/export intermodal) and domestic intermodal freight . Formerly large scale freight types such as petroleum products have entirely been withdrawn, and fertilizer has almost disappeared. The freight trading revenue by sector, as per the December 2016 Half Year Report is: Rail freight depots : KiwiRail has

2150-467: The world trade shifts towards other developing countries. In 2011, Mainfreight Limited acquired the business of Wim Bosman Group providing further opportunities to expand their international global presence with branches located throughout Europe. Mainfreight branches are located throughout France, Poland, United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. In 2022 due to

2200-526: The year ending 2016, with over 1,000 new wagons added since 2008. One of KiwiRail's stated aims is to progressively move towards standardized wagons, with the container flat-top being overwhelmingly the dominant type (carrying curtain sided swap bodies , liquid containers , Log cradles and so on to meet almost all freight tasks). The Norwegian coupling is progressively being replaced with semi-automatic Janney coupler on all wagons. Key freight routes: Re-branded along with KiwiRail Scenic Journeys as

2250-417: The years following. In support of the turn-around plan, from July 2008 to December 2016 KiwiRail received over $ 2.1 billion of Crown investment, which was mostly spent on infrastructure and new rolling stock. The focus of the Plan is to increase rail traffic volumes, revenue and productivity, modernise assets and separate out the commercial elements of the business from the non-commercial. The plan included

2300-455: Was Mainfreight's first international sea and airfreight business and was started in 1984 by Bruce Plested's brother Gerald. They established agencies in the early days with Australian, Pacific Island and United States freight forwarders and the established agents in most major trading partner countries of New Zealand. Mainfreight started operating in the United States after its purchase of CaroTrans International in 1999 and expanded in 2007 from

2350-430: Was announced by the company that the value of the land and rail operations would be written down from NZ$ 7.8 billion to $ 1.3 billion, and KiwiRail would continue as the rail and ferry operator, while the New Zealand Railways Corporation would manage KiwiRail's land. The de-merger took effect on 31 December 2012. In 2010 KiwiRail released a 10-year turnaround plan and significant government investment in support of this in

2400-432: Was completed on 6 June 2007. In September 2007, it was reported by Business Wire that Mainfreight had signed a merger agreement with NYSE American -listed Target Logistics for $ 2.50 a share; for a total of US$ 54 million. Target operate domestic and international time-sensitive freight-forwarding and logistics services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Target Logistic Services. Target has offices in 35 cities throughout

2450-457: Was founded it entered a highly regulated transport market. A licence from New Zealand Railways Corporation was needed to carry freight over 150 km. When deregulation of land transport occurred in October 1982, Mainfreight quickly took advantage of the opportunities presented and won a large share of the freight market. Whilst describing the foundation of Mainfreight in 2000, Plested said to

2500-504: Was split off from the Railways Corporation (which continued to own the land beneath the rail network) in 1990, privatised in 1993 and then renamed in 1995 to Tranz Rail . In 2004 Tranz Rail's rail, ferry and trucking operations were acquired by Toll Holdings and renamed Toll NZ , with the central government buying back the rail network outside of Auckland for $ 1 (the Auckland metro rail network had already been purchased by

#300699