KiwiRail

Date founded: 2008

Industry: Freight and passenger rail

Corporate headquarters: Wellington, New Zealand

Type: State-owned

KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a state-owned enterprise that operates a rail transportation network in New Zealand. It provides commuter services in metropolitan areas, long-distance rail passenger services, and bulk and consolidated freight services. It also offers ferry services for vehicles, passengers, and rail and road freight. KiwiRail maintains and operates 3,500 kilometres of track, 1,322 bridges and 98 tunnels. It manages 18,000 hectares of land, over 1,500 buildings and more than 8,000 third-party properties. Its freight services move 18 million tonnes a year.

KiwiRail's commuter passenger trains run in the Wellington and Auckland metropolitan areas. The Interislander ferries connect the North Island and South Island road and rail networks, with three ships operating daily across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton. The company's long-distance tourist trains traverse three routes. The Coastal Pacific runs along the Kaikoura Coastline of South Island from Christchurch to Picton, where it connects to the Interislander ferries. The TranzAlpine travels between Christchurch and Greymouth through the Canterbury Plains and Southern Alps of South Island. The Northern Explorer train travels across North Island from Wellington to Auckland.

History

New Zealand's first public railway opened in Christchurch in 1863. In 1870 Julius Vogel, the colonial treasurer who later became premier, embarked on building a national network of railways. By the end of the decade, nearly 1,900 kilometres of track had been built and were in operation, mainly on South Island but with a growing number of lines on North Island as well. Both public and private construction of railways continued over the next two decades. Gradually the government purchased most privately owned railways. In 1908 it completed the North Island Main Trunk Railway connecting Auckland and Wellington. The government-owned New Zealand Railways (NZR) continued to expand in both North Island and South Island, peaking in the early 1950s with more than 5,600 kilometres of track.

Administration of the government-owned railway system varied through the years. Provincial councils managed their own rail lines until 1876, when the Minister of Public Works took overarching responsibility for operation and maintenance. The Railways Department was established in 1880, and construction and operation were managed separately. A minister of railways held political authority, and a general manager held administrative responsibility. The Railways Department became one of the largest employers in the country as rail construction boomed for both freight and passenger service.

After World War II the New Zealand rail industry declined as automobiles became more popular for private transportation. In 1982 New Zealand began deregulating the transportation industry, removing protections from road-based competition. The Railways Department became a government-owned corporation with a commercial mandate to operate profitably. In 1990 it became a government-owned limited liability company, New Zealand Rail Limited. The New Zealand Government then sold New Zealand Rail in 1993 to a private consortium, which included two groups of investors and the Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation. They renamed the company Tranz Rail Holdings and went public in 1996, listing shares on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and the American NASDAQ market. The New Zealand Railways Corporation remained as a government entity leasing the rail corridors and other land for railway operations. Tranz Rail focused primarily on freight service and expanded into some new markets, but was largely unsuccessful.

After Australian-headquartered Toll Holdings Limited acquired about 85 per cent of the shares in Tranz Rail Holdings in 2003, it formed an agreement for the Crown to buy back the tracks and Toll Holdings to operate the rail network. In September 2004 the New Zealand Railways Corporation became the new owner of the rail network under the trading name of KiwiRail Network (ONTRACK). During the next three years, Toll gained more shares of the New Zealand Railways Corporation and threatened to cut service or take over unless the company gained a long-term operating agreement. On 1 July 2008 the government purchased Toll's rail and ferry business and renamed them KiwiRail. On 1 October 2008 KiwiRail and ONTRACK formed a single integrated business under the New Zealand Railways Corporation.

KiwiRail oversaw a resurgence of rail transportation in the late 2000s and 2010s. In 2009 it bought the locomotive maintenance company United Group, giving it control of upkeep and repair operations. In late 2012 the organisation again split into two entities, the state-owned enterprise KiwiRail Holdings and the land-owning New Zealand Rail Corporation (NZRC). In the 2010s the company made significant upgrades to the Auckland commuter rail system, including electrifying suburban trains by 2015. These investments spurred a major increase in commuter traffic there, while Wellington saw a similar surge in ridership. In 2017 KiwiRail created the Great Journeys of New Zealand brand to market its three long-distance scenic lines (formerly known as KiwiRail Scenic Journeys) and the Interislander ferry service.

Impact

As the owner and operator of the primary railway system throughout New Zealand, KiwiRail has a major social and economic impact on the country. It is vital to the transportation of freight on and between North Island and South Island, to the commuter infrastructure in Wellington and Auckland, and to the tourist industry. As of 2017 it provided 32 million commuter trips and 1 million tourist trips per year while investing over $1 billion in upgrades and repairs over a five-year period. The 18 million tonnes of freight it moves each year account for about 16 per cent of New Zealand's total and 25 per cent of the country's exports. The company employs 3,400 to 4,000 people.

KiwiRail has adopted the Zero Harm goal of no injuries or fatalities to promote safety within the organisation and the communities it serves. Among other social outreach programs, it sponsors a charitable trust, TrackSAFE NZ, which provides safety education programs promoting rail safety and safe behaviour around trains and tracks. It plans and coordinates Rail Safety Week annually in partnership with other organisations and produces educational resources for schools.

KiwiRail's Zero Harm goal extends to the environment. It seeks to minimise the impact of its activities on the environment and aims to reduce carbon emissions, increase fuel efficiency and reduce waste and electricity usage. The company has implemented a fuel efficiency programme for its passenger trains and ferries. It also highlights the efficiency and other environmental advantages of rail over trucking or other modes of transport.

Bibliography

Atkinson, Neill. "Railways." Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, New Zealand Government, 11 Mar. 2016, teara.govt.nz/en/railways. Accessed 18 Dec. 2017.

The Great Journeys of New Zealand, KiwiRail, 2017, www.greatjourneysofnz.co.nz. Accessed 18 Dec. 2017.

"KiwiRail and CRL Funded in NZ$1bn Budget Allocation." Railway Gazette, 26 May 2017, www.railwaygazette.com/news/policy/single-view/view/kiwirail-and-crl-funded-in-nz1bn-budget-allocation.html. Accessed 14 Dec. 2017.

KiwiRail, 2016, www.kiwirail.co.nz. Accessed 14 Dec. 2017.

"KiwiRail Wins Award for Freight Excellence." Scoop, 14 July 2017. www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1707/S00367/kiwirail-wins-award-for-freight-excellence.htm. Accessed 14 Dec. 2017.

"Rail in New Zealand." New Zealand Ministry of Transport, New Zealand Government, 6 Aug. 2016. www.transport.govt.nz/rail/rail-in-new-zealand. Accessed 14 Dec. 2017.