KiwiRail’s Quinn plans network revival
June 11th, 2009
New KiwiRail CEO, Jim Quinn, plans to have a detailed five year recovery and expansion plan for the national railway company in place within the next 12 months. Quinn has taken control of a company suffering from 20 years of neglect, no long-term strategy and a budget too small to immediately rebuild its infrastructure and operations. Quinn says to turn the situation around will require extra capital from the Govt.
Quinn says a big part of his task is to make sure the value KiwiRail brings to NZ is understood. Within a year he aims to have a long-term vision in place, underpinned by a detailed 5-year plan. Part of his job may be as change manager. Rail policy is to move to the Ministry of Transport from Treasury, with funding from Vote Transport. “KiwiRail is not the total solution for many things but it’s a huge part of the solution.”
Meanwhile, Treasury papers show KiwiRail would have run out of cash by Nov 30 last year without Finance Minister, Bill English, approving operating funding. All other funding, including amounts approved by the previous Govt, was deferred pending a proper business case. Treasury analysts estimate the national railway would shrink to about 2,300 kms from the current 4,000 kms if rail “were to be allowed to reach its commercial equilibrium.” In light of this analysis, work is ongoing on whether to break the rail network into smaller economic links while mothballing uneconomic tracks. Those could be preserved with the option of being opened in future as demand returns.
Copyright © Media Information Ltd
NZ Transport Intelligence Briefing
Amalgamated Dairies
Strait Shipping