Part of a RNZ Insight investigation by Eric Frykberg. You can hear more about this on Insight this Sunday after the 8am news.
Train on bend Photo: KiwiRail
Just as KiwiRail's fortunes were looking up, the Kaikoura earthquake and fires have hit the rail operator's bottom line to the tune of at least $25 million this financial year.
Most of that is because of lost business on the main trunk line from Picton to Christchurch. Work is under way to have the line restored by end of the year.
Bridge 129 near Tirohanga, on the Main North Line railway dropped a massive 2.3 metres and moved up to 5.5m sideways when the quake struck. Photo: KiwiRail Facebook
The quake struck as KiwiRail was moving into top gear, putting generations of political meddling and restructuring behind it for good.
Then, in addition to the quake damage near Kaikoura, the line from Lyttelton to Greymouth was blocked by fire damage to bridges for six weeks.
This stranded coal and dairy output and deprived almost 25,000 tourists of a picturesque ride across the Southern Alps.
Crews repair a bridge on the track between Springfield and Cass following a 300 ha fire on Waitangi weekend. Photo: KiwiRail
KiwiRail's chief executive Peter Reidy says these twin setbacks happened when the company was looking up.
"We were heading, before the earthquake, for one of our busiest peak seasons and we were seeing very good growth."
He says the earthquake had an impact of up to $15 million in the first half and about $25 million for the full year.
Freight Train, Reid McNaught Photo: KiwiRail
Before the quake and the fire KiwiRail took 18 million tonnes of freight annually, 16 percent of New Zealand's total and 25 percent of exports.
Mainfreight's managing director, Don Braid, says that despite its large fleet of trucks the quake reinforces the need for KiwiRail to return in full. .
“New Zealand needs to understand how much freight moves by rail, and how efficient it is, and what congestion it takes off the road”
The Government says the Kaikoura route must be restored, and work is underway on a project that could cost $2 billion dollars.
When KiwiRail is back in action, it'll return to the sort of economics it had earlier: Making an operational profit but needing Government money for its track.
Some opposition politicians want this money paid from the same land transport budget that builds roads. But the present Government disagrees.
