Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland

30 September 2015

Kiwirail's last reliable rail ferry off to India - end of iron bridge

The recently retired Cook Strait ferry Arahura is scheduled to leave for India this week, leaving KiwiRail with only the unreliable Aratere capable of carrying rail freight between the North and South Islands, says New Zealand First.

“The move effectively ends the concept of a permanent, reliable ‘iron bridge’ across Cook Strait because Aratere cannot maintain a timetable schedule and also can’t sail in seas higher than three metres,” says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters.

“KiwiRail’s answer to the rail freight situation is to use rubber tyred trailers to replace railway waggons to carry containers on the ships. KiwiRail will now load containers off railway wagons on to rubber wheeled trailers then drive the trailers down a private roadway on to the Cook Strait ferries.”

Mr Peters says this raises safety concerns on the ships themselves as there are some doubts over whether the decks can cope with unstable rubber tyred trailers carrying heavy weights because the load will not be spread adequately.

“The new double handling system will also mean reconfiguring the railway yards in both Wellington and Picton – at further expense to taxpayers.

“The whole idea seems a bit off the wall. New Zealand must be the first country in the world to use rubber wheeled waggons on a national railway link,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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