South Island Rail To Be Cut Adrift For 4 Years, Due To Early Axing Of Aratere Ferry

Press Release – Save Our Trains
While we have applauded the necessary decision by Minister Peters to resurrect the rail ferries programme, we now see how much the Governments earlier axing of the rail ferries is costing us, spokesperson Dave Macpherson said.
The Government's decision to cut short the Aratere rail ferry's existence this year will leave the country with no rail link between the North and South Islands for four years, points out rail advocacy group The Future is Rail.
'Four years with no direct rail link between the economies and populations of the two islands is far too long, and will seriously affect businesses, communities and jobs, especially in the South Island,' said spokesperson Dave Macpherson.
KiwiRail and the Government claim the four year gap is needed to enable re-development of the Picton wharf area to accommodate the two new rail ferries announced for 2029 by Rail Minister Winston Peters.
The Future is Rail pointed out that wharf alterations at Picton, to accommodate the previous Government's contracted two new rail ferries, were already under way, while the Aratere was still able to use existing Picton facilities.
'The short-sighted cancellation of the iRex ferries by Finance Minister Nicola Willis 18 months ago has therefore caused the four year loss of one of this country's most important and strategic transport connections.'
'While we have applauded the necessary decision by Minister Peters to resurrect the rail ferries programme, we now see how much the Government's earlier axing of the rail ferries is costing us,' he said.

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Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone At the scrutiny hearing, Watts was grilled by opposition MPs on whether Todd Energy had asked for direct subsidies from the government. Watts said he hadn't seen such a request, but Labour MP Deborah Russell presented him with an answer to a written question in Parliament, confirming Todd had asked for subsidies. Watts didn't directly answer Russell when she asked what the government's reply had been. He said in regards to support for industries "there's a number of aspects that remain under active consideration". Watts said the government was still committed to passing regulations allowing carbon capture and storage as "one tool in the toolbox" for lowering emissions. RNZ asked Todd to clarify what it had asked for. It said it had not asked the government for a direct subsidy for carbon capture and storage at Kapuni. But the company confirmed it wanted either co-investment, government underwriting or shared liability with the taxpayer for any future carbon leaks from the project. Todd has previously argued the government should treat carbon capture and storage facilities as infrastructure. "In our 2024 submission to MBIE (Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment) on the CCUS consultation, we did signal that government support - particularly in the form of risk-sharing or enabling mechanisms - would be essential for CCS to proceed in New Zealand," it said. "Particularly, we noted that New Zealand's declining gas reserves make the economics of CCS challenging and that 'for CCS to be effective, the government should consider sharing project risks and responsibilities. "It could be liability for leakage, particularly if the intent is to store third party CO2 in time. Due to challenging economics there is also financing risk that co-investment or a government underwrite could help to de-risk," said the company. Todd Energy had previously estimated the Kapuni field would have room for storing carbon dioxide produced by other companies, as well as its own. Earlier in the hearing, Watts was asked by National MP Grant McCallum about the risk of "emissions leakage" if New Zealand started lowering its methane emissions from farming. Emissions leakage refers to the risk of production moving overseas to get away from emissions pricing in its country of origin. Watts defended the necessity of meeting New Zealand's climate targets and international obligations. "You hear some on some corners saying, we're very small and insignificant," he said. "Every country, big or small, has a role to play in terms of reducing emissions and New Zealand is part of the Paris Agreement for that purpose. "In terms of adding up all the small and insignificant countries, it adds up to 40 per cent of global emissions," Watts said. "If we pull out, what signal does that send? There are three countries that are not part of the Paris Agreement, the USA and a number of other countries that most people probably have probably never heard of." [Those countries are Iran, Libya and Yemen . "Russia, China, India, they're all part of the Paris Agreement, and all the other countries we would look to - the only one is the US. "In regards to the implications on international trade, ... New Zealand has a reputation as a primary sector exporter of red meat, dairy and other products," he said. "Why would we put that at risk?"