03/02/09

The Government's announcement today of funding for new locomotives for the rail freight network and Tranz Scenic carriages is recognition of the important role rail plays in the New Zealand economy, the Chairman of KiwiRail, Jim Bolger said today.

The Government announced funding of $115 million for 20 new locomotives and 17 passenger carriages for KiwiRail's Tranz Scenic Fleet.

"The Government's decision is timely and welcome," said Mr Bolger. "The new locomotives will enable us to make considerable efficiency gains on key freight routes such as Auckland-Tauranga-Murupara and on the ‘Coal Route' between the West Coast coal mines and the Port of Lyttelton.

"The key to lifting KiwiRail's revenue and profitability is improving customer service. We have locomotives that are at or near retirement age and we also have a contractual obligation to supply locomotives to Auckland Regional Transport Authority later in the year.

"The new locomotives will be more powerful and reliable than those in our existing fleet and in some cases, will be able to do the work of two existing locomotives."

Mr Bolger said the new passenger carriages would enable Tranz Scenic to provide the kind of travel experience that passengers, particularly overseas tourists, expect.

"The role of long-distance passenger services is evolving into a high quality tourism experience," he said. "It's essential we have the carriages to complement the magnificent scenery that draws people to the Tranz Alpine, Tranz Coastal and Overlander.

"Between them, Tranz Scenic long distance passenger experiences and the Interislander ferries represent an important but underrated element of the New Zealand tourism industry."

Mr Bolger said he was encouraged that the Government understood where rail can make the most effective contribution to the economy.

"Apart from tourist rail experiences, it has a fundamental role in carrying bulk goods, containers to and from ports and urban passengers in large cities. In all these roles, it takes thousands of vehicles off roads that are already congested.

"We firmly believe that investment in rail significantly reduces the amount of money that would need to be spent on roads to achieve the same result."

KiwiRail's Chief Executive Jim Quinn says the new locomotives, which will arrive progressively during 2010, will be lighter, more powerful and more fuel efficient than the models they replace. They will be fitted with a German-built engine that is approximately six tonnes lighter than those fitted on locomotives in the current fleet.

"They also provide superior fuel economy and improved running times, meet EU III emission standards and are likely to require less maintenance.

"They'll enable us to make a ‘two for one' replacement on many services that run in the Auckland -Murupara corridors. Services that have previously required two locomotives running ‘back to back' will be replaced by a single locomotive.

"We looked closely at the merits of building the locomotives locally but on cost, performance and importantly, delivery time, the Chinese option was superior."

Mr Quinn said the new passenger carriages had been allocated to the South Island services, the Tranz Alpine and Tranz Coastal because they were the more heavily used and tourism oriented trains.

"We have a number of options available to us for the Overlander and we are actively looking at these, including mounting a business case for new carriages."

Mr Quinn said building the carriages in New Zealand would provide a fillip to Hillside Engineering in Dunedin which will carry out the work in conjunction with a large number of New Zealand suppliers.

"Today's announcement is a combination of a great deal of hard work and careful planning by many people. It is important that we acknowledge the contribution they have made," he said

Ends

Issued by KiwiRail

Media contact: Kevin Ramshaw Public Affairs Manager
Phone 04 495 9042 / 0274 507 420

Category: KiwiRail Group

Posted by: Nigel Parry

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