KiwiRail: Cost, value of trains 'two different things'

  • 11/08/2015
KiwiRail: Cost, value of trains 'two different things'

Expect trains - that's the message from KiwiRail as they promote rail safety week.

In the past decade, 27 people have killed in collisions with trains and a further 54 seriously injured.

But that's not the only issue the state-owned enterprise is facing; the Government's given KiwiRail two years to sort out its finances and Treasury wants it shut down altogether.

So is there any way to fix it or is the writing on the wall?

KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy told Paul Henry this morning that there are a "number of options that have been put to Treasury".

"The Government really committed to two-year funding and they announced that they would commit to another two-years funding for $400 million – so they've very, very positive."

Mr Reidy says "New Zealanders don't want an extra 27,000 trucks on their roads" and defines that the cost and the value of trains are two very different things.

Watch the video for the full interview.