91-558: The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation . It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel services. Its name was New Zealand Railways Road Motor Service until mid-1936. The first bus operation by NZR began on 1 October 1907, between Culverden on
182-653: A $ 346 million loss for the half-year ended December 2003. In the same year, it carried 2.1 million tonnes of coal on the Midland line in the South Island. The departure of the former chief executive officer, Michael Beard, and six other top managers cost it $ 6 million in exit payments. The company was renamed Toll NZ and did not retain any of the Tranz Rail directors. In May 2008, the New Zealand Government agreed to buy
273-434: A Heads of Agreement with Toll later that month, and eventually bought the rail network for $ 1, plus $ 50 million for property assets including leases and Wellington railway station . The deal also established a performance regime creating incentives for Toll if it shifts freight from road to rail, and penalties if freight carriage falls below 70% of current levels. If Toll increases freight volumes by 10% or more on certain lines
364-434: A decline in passenger, freight and train miles run but also led to an increase in profitability. In the 1917 Annual Report, a record 5.3% return on investment was made. The war did take its toll on railway services, with dining cars being removed from passenger trains in 1917, replaced by less labour-intensive refreshment rooms at railway stations along the way. As a result, the "scramble for pie and tea at Taihape " became
455-597: A new railway station and head office in Wellington were approved, along with the electrification of the Johnsonville Line (then still part of the North Island Main Trunk). The Wellington railway station and Tawa flat deviation were both completed in 1937. As part of attempts by NZR to win back passengers from private motor vehicles, the same year the first 56-foot carriages were introduced. Garnet Mackley
546-734: A number of extensions of the deadline set by Toll, it held 84.2% of shares in Tranz Rail after the offer closed in December 2003. By that time, shares were being sold on the New Zealand Sharemarket for $ 1.65, above even the independent valuation of between $ 1.34 and $ 1.62 made in July by merchant bankers Grant Samuel. Despite Toll not achieving the 90% requirement, the Government honoured the Heads of Agreement made in July. In February 2004, Tranz Rail reported
637-457: A part of New Zealand folklore. Non-essential rail services were curtailed as more staff took part in the war effort, and railway workshops were converted for producing military equipment, on top of their existing maintenance and construction work. The war soon affected the supply of coal to the railways. Although hostilities ended in 1918, the coal shortage carried on into 1919 as first miners strikes and then an influenza epidemic cut supplies. As
728-567: A population of 362 to each mile of railway already made. In August 1881 the Railways Construction and Land Act was passed, allowing joint-stock companies to build and run private railways, as long as they were built to the government's standard rail gauge of 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) and connected with the government railway lines. The Act had the effect of authorising the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company to build
819-492: A report known as the "Fay Raven Report" which gave qualified approval to Coates' programme. The reports only significant change was the proposal of a Cook Strait train ferry service between Wellington and Picton, to link the two systems up. Coates went on to become Prime Minister in 1925, an office he held until 1928 when he was defeated at the general election of that year . While the Westfield and Tawa Flat deviations proceeded,
910-399: A result, non-essential services remained in effect until the end of 1919. Shortages of spare parts and materials led to severe inflation, and repairs on locomotives being deferred. Similar coal-saving timetable cuts occurred at the end of the next war in 1945 and 1946. In 1920 the 3,000-mile (4,800 km) milestone of open railway lines was reached and 15 million passengers were carried by
1001-616: A secondary place altogether, and probably will be torn up, and we shall have motor traffic taking their place .” Section 12 of that Act allowed for government borrowing and Section 19 required local councils to provide half the cost of road improvements. By setting in place a system of subsidy from ratepayers and taxpayers, whilst requiring railways to make a 3¾% profit (at that rate, interest amounted to over 22% of total earnings), Coates ensured his prophecy came true, as railways gradually became uneconomic. He also encouraged publicity for rail travel. The following year, Gordon Coates became
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#17328511393551092-584: A separate company from Tranz Rail, did likewise. In May 2003, the Australian transport firm Toll Holdings purchased a 6.1% share of Tranz Rail, increasing its share to 10.1% by June and 19.9% in July. Toll then launched its own takeover bid, initially offering 75c per share, later increased to 95c. In July 2003, the Government announced that it was dropping its bid to buy a 35% stake in Tranz Rail, instead allowing Toll to succeed in its takeover bid. Toll's bid valued Tranz Rail at $ 231 million. The Government reached
1183-698: A share. On 8 February 2002, Fay Richwhite sold 17.6 million shares at $ 3.60 a share and Berkshire Fund sold 4.3 million shares on 12 February that year at the same price. The original investors made a $ 360 million profit from their investment. In partnership with Wisconsin Central as the Australian Transport Network , Tranz Rail invested in Tasmanian rail operator TasRail in 1997. From 1998, Tranz Rail sold twelve members of its DQ class and three QR class locomotives to TasRail. The locomotives were rebuilt at
1274-734: The DFT class of locomotives to the Chicago Freight Car Leasing Company for $ 131.5 million. It then leased the locomotives back for a period of 12 years. The lease ended on 19 December 2008 with the locomotives ownership returning to Tranz Rail's successor, KiwiRail. Tranz Rail's chairman Ed Burkhardt resigned in August 1999 as a result of resigning as the chairman, CEO and president of Wisconsin Central. Industry insiders put this down to his preference to re-invest revenues rather than paying dividends to shareholders. Wisconsin's new board sold
1365-545: The English Electric built DE class , were introduced in 1951. The locomotives gave good service but were not powerful or numerous enough to seriously displace steam traction. In 1954, the New Zealand railway network reached its zenith in terms of distance with 5,600 km (3,500 mi), 60% of it on gradients between 1 in 100 and 1 in 200 and 33% steeper than 1 in 100. The EW class electric locomotives introduced for
1456-475: The Ferrymead Railway in 1863. From 1880, a central Government department, the New Zealand Railways Department , was responsible for operating most of the growing railway network. A few private lines were built, but only one, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (W&MR) achieved any measure of success. The W&MR was nationalised in 1908. In 1931, due to increasing competition from road carriers,
1547-635: The Hutt Valley , and by 1928 was operating 56 buses. In 1931 Parliament passed the Transport Licensing Act , which regulated local bus services to ensure that services would not compete with NZR. This further increased acquisitions by NZR of small bus companies. By 1954 the bus routes covered 6,000 miles (9,700 km), but generally at higher fares than the railways. For example, the 230 miles (370 km) Christchurch-Dunedin return journey cost £2 13s 6d by rail, but £3 10s by bus and took 7hr 10min on
1638-598: The Hutt Workshops . The DQ locomotives were originally imported by New Zealand Rail in 1995 from Queensland Rail as an alternative to buying new locomotives. In service, they proved unpopular with locomotive crews, due to excessive vibration and noise in their cabs. The investment provided only marginal returns, and Toll later sold the TasRail shareholding to Pacific National , a Toll Holdings partnership with Patrick Corporation , in 2003. In December 1996, Tranz Rail sold
1729-634: The Leyland experimental petrol railcar and a fleet of Model T Ford railbuses , the Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar and from 1926 the Clayton steam railcar and successful Edison battery-electric railcar . 10 years later in 1936 the Leyland diesel railbus was introduced, but the first truly successful railcar class to enter service began operating that year, the Wairarapa railcar specially designed to operate over
1820-621: The Liberal Government of Premier Richard Seddon appointed Alfred Cadman as the first Minister of Railways . The Minister appointed a General Manager for the railways, keeping the operation under tight political control. Apart from four periods of government-appointed commissions (1889–1894, 1924–1928, 1931–1936 and 1953–1957), this system remained in place until the department was corporatised in 1982. In 1895, patronage had reached 3.9M passengers per annum and 2.048M tonnes. NZR produced its first New Zealand-built steam locomotive in 1889;
1911-622: The Lyttelton Line in Christchurch, completed in 1929, at the same voltage and current. This again saw English Electric supply locomotives, the EC class . Gordon Coates , on 24 October 1922, as Minister of Public Works, in introducing his Main Highways Act , said, “ I say the day will come when it will be found that through the use of motor transport certain railways in New Zealand will be relegated to
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#17328511393552002-613: The North Island Main Trunk to Clear. New Zealand Rail carried its corporate brand until 18 October 1995, when Tranz Rail Limited was renamed Tranz Rail Holdings Limited and New Zealand Rail Limited was renamed Tranz Rail. On the same day Tranz Rail Holdings Limited made a $ 100 million capital repayment to the Fay Richwhite consortium, largely financed by the sale of shares in Clear Communications. The Tranz Rail brand
2093-707: The Rimutaka Incline . This class followed the building of the Red Terror (an inspection car on a Leyland Cub chassis) for the General Manager in 1933. More classes followed over the years, primarily to operate regional services. Following the success of the Wairarapa railcar class, in 1938 the Standard class railcars were introduced. A further improvement to passenger transport came in July that year, with electric services on
2184-464: The Transport Licensing Act 1931 was passed, restricting road cartage and giving the railways department a monopoly on long-distance freight. In 1982, the same year the land transport sector was deregulated, the Railways Department was reconstituted as the New Zealand Railways Corporation , a statutory corporation (later a state-owned enterprise from 1986). The Railways Corporation restructured
2275-639: The Victoria , Australia rail operator West Coast Railway for $ 33 million. This sale included long-distance passenger rolling stock and ten diesel locomotives of the DC class , reclassified as the DCP class, and two EF class electric locomotives. In 2004 this share was purchased by Toll NZ, as one of the West Coast Railway directors had died and the business was not performing adequately. On 24 December 2001, Tranz Rail sold
2366-635: The W class built in the Addington Railway Workshops . Along with opening new lines, NZR began acquiring a number of the private railways which had built railway lines around the country. It acquired the Waimea Plains Railway Company in 1886. At the same time, a protracted legal battle began with the New Zealand Midland Railway Company , which was only resolved in 1898. The partially completed Midland line
2457-1212: The Waiau Branch and Waiau Ferry in Canterbury . By the 1920s NZR was noticing a considerable downturn in rail passenger traffic on many lines due to increasing ownership of private cars, and from 1923 it began to co-ordinate rail passenger services with private bus services. The New Zealand Railways Road Services branch was formed to operate bus services. In 1911 tenders for bookstalls were being advertised for 33 main stations - Auckland , Frankton Junction , Rotorua . Paeroa , Taumarunui , Ohakune , Taihape , Marton , Feilding , Palmerston North , Levin , Wellington Thorndon and Lambton , Masterton , Woodville , Dannevirke . Waipukurau . Hastings , Napier , New Plymouth , Stratford , Hāwera , Aramoho , Whanganui , Nelson , Christchurch , Ashburton , Timaru , Oamaru , Dunedin , Milton , Gore , and Invercargill . By 1912, patronage had reached 13.4M passengers per annum (a 242% increase since 1895) and 5.9M tonnes of freight (a 188% increase since 1895). In 1913, damages of £15 were awarded against New Zealand Railways to S. J. Gibbons by
2548-562: The Waiau Branch and Waiau Ferry in Canterbury . By the 1920s NZR was noticing a considerable downturn in rail passenger traffic on many lines due to increasing ownership of private cars, and from 1923 it began to coordinate rail passenger services with private bus services. In November 1926, NZR purchased a private bus firm operating between Hastings and Napier in the Hawke's Bay region. NZR then acquired various other bus services in Dunedin and
2639-740: The Wairarapa and Wellington. This led to the closure of the Rimutaka Incline and its unique Fell railway system. Because steam locomotives could not be operated through the new tunnel, the Wairarapa Line was the first to be fully "dieselised". Amid many protests, the isolated Nelson Section was closed, although future Nelson Railway Proposals resurfaced from 1957. The RM class "88 seater" or "Fiats" also began entering service from 1955. The railcars were designed to take over provincial inter-city routes but proved to be mechanically unreliable. Despite large orders for diesel-electric locomotives, NZR
2730-535: The Wellington - Auckland express was derailed due to a bridge collapse north of Tangiwai due to a lahar from a volcanic eruption, in what became known as the Tangiwai disaster . The following year NZR introduced the dual-cab D class in 1954, the first main-line diesel-electric locomotives in service. They proved to be unsuccessful in service and the original order of 31 was cancelled, and D class locomotives, also built by English Electric , ordered instead. While
2821-596: The Wellington-Manawatu Line . In 1877 the first American locomotives were purchased; the NZR K class (1877) from Rogers , followed by the NZR T class of 1879 from Baldwin . The most important construction project for NZR at this time was the central section of the North Island Main Trunk . Starting from Te Awamutu on 15 April 1885, the section—including the famous Raurimu Spiral —was not completed for another 23 years. The economy gradually improved and in 1895
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2912-539: The 630 km (390 mi) Main South Line from the port of Lyttelton to Bluff. The Railways Department was formed in 1880 during the premiership of Sir John Hall . That year, the private Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited was acquired by the department and new workshops at Addington opened. Ironically, the first few years of NZR were marked by the Long Depression , which led to great financial constraint on
3003-454: The Auckland suburban rail network to the New Zealand Government for $ 81 million. In 2003 a competitive tender was held to find a new operator for the suburban passenger services, which Tranz Rail did not bid for. Connex (later renamed Transdev Auckland ) won the contract, and took over Tranz Metro's Auckland operation from 23 August 2004. Michael Beard became CEO of Tranz Rail in 2000 following
3094-514: The D class proved more successful than the D class, steam remained the dominant form of traction. This led to the introduction of the D class in 1955, the largest fleet of diesel-electric locomotives NZR ever introduced. The D class, more than any other class, displaced steam locomotives from the North Island . On 3 November of the same year the 8.798 kilometres (5.467 mi) long Rimutaka Tunnel opened, greatly reducing transit times between
3185-702: The Government Railways Board. Another Act of Parliament, the Government Railways Amendment Act 1931 was passed. The Railways Board was independent of the Government of the day and answered to the Minister of Finance . During this period the Prime Minister George Forbes was also Minister of Railways, and Minister of Finance was former Minister of Railways Gordon Coates . The Railways Board was chaired by Herbert Harry Sterling,
3276-655: The Government will grant it a track access charge holiday. The parties agreed the Government would spend $ 200 million over the next five years upgrading the track via the New Zealand Railways Corporation, operating as ONTRACK. Toll did not achieve the 90% stake of Tranz Rail it required to meet the Government's deal and compulsorily acquire the remaining 10% of shares, despite raising its offer again to $ 1.10 per share. In 2003, around 3,000 small shareholders held 25% of Tranz Rail's shares, many of them major institutional shareholders such as AMI and Infratil . After
3367-573: The Johnsonville Line starting with the introduction of the DM/D English Electric Multiple Units . Three new locomotive classes appeared in 1939: the K class , K class and the J class . The K was a further development of the K class, while the J class was primarily for lighter trackage in the South Island. The numerically smaller K class were allocated to the Midland line , where they dominated traffic. This led to
3458-627: The Milson deviation and Rimutaka Tunnel projects remained stalled. The onset of the Great Depression from late 1929 saw these projects scaled back or abandoned. The Westfield deviation was completed in 1930 and the Tawa deviation proceeded at a snail's pace. A number of new lines under construction were casualties, including the Rotorua-Taupo line, approved in July 1928 but abandoned almost a year later due to
3549-576: The Minister of Railways. Coates was an ambitious politician who had an almost "religious zeal" for his portfolio. During the summer of 1923, he spent the entire parliamentary recess inspecting the department's operations. The following year, he put forward a "Programme of Improvements and New Works'". Coates scheme proposed spending £8 million over 8 years. This was later expanded to £10 million over 10 years. The programme included: An independent commission, led by Sir Sam Fay and Sir Vincent Raven produced
3640-612: The New Zealand government removed core rail transport and shipping operations from the New Zealand Railways Corporation, creating a separate entity called New Zealand Rail Limited , a Crown Transferee company created under the Act. At the same time, the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand was formed to protect heritage assets that New Zealand Rail planned to dispose of, especially heritage rolling stock, stations and other equipment. The government wrote off NZ$ 1.08 billion in debt acquired by
3731-709: The North Island and Blenheim in the South Island, as part of the " Rail Air " service. In 1950, Straits Air Freight Express (later known as SAFE Air) took over the contract from the RNZAF. The service was discontinued in the early 1980s. The General Manager of NZR, Frank Aickin , was an advocate for electrifying the entire North Island Main Trunk to alleviate the shortage of coal and the cost of importing diesel fuel; though he also recognised that steam and diesel traction would be required on other lines. NZR's first diesel-electric locomotives,
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3822-560: The Supreme Court in a precedent-setting case; for damages to a car that hit a train at a level crossing: see Cliff Road railway station . The outbreak of World War I in 1914 had a significant impact on the Railways Department. That year the A class appeared, and the following year the first A class locomotives were introduced. This class went on to become the most numerous locomotive class in New Zealand history, with several examples surviving into preservation. The war itself led to
3913-436: The Wellington electric system. They were the second class of electric locomotive to be used on this section of electrification. They were the most powerful locomotives on the system till the D class arrived in 1972. Aicken went as far as negotiating a tentative contract for the construction of electrification and locomotives for it, but fell out with the Government in late 1951 and resigned. His successor, H.C. Lusty, terminated
4004-537: The coining of the phrase "KB country" to describe the area, made famous by the National Film Unit 's documentary of the same title. As with the first world war, the Second World War had a significant impact on railways. The war created major labour shortages across the economy generally, and while considered "essential industry", railways were no exception. A large number of NZR employees signed up to fight in
4095-577: The company from the Railways Corporation (mainly for the electrification of the North Island Main Trunk , a Think Big project), and injected a further $ 300 million in capital. Fay, Richwhite and Company , financial advisers New Zealand Rail, argued the company had a better future with minimal debt. Despite this capital injection, the company remained only marginally profitable, reporting after-tax profits of $ 36.2 million in 1992 and $ 18 million in 1993. The Railways Corporation retained ownership of
4186-502: The company to the Canadian National Railway on 9 October 2001. Canadian National then put its 24% shareholding in Tranz Rail up for sale. Tranz Rail also contracted out services which were previously provided in house. Alstom was contracted for locomotive servicing and took over the Hutt Workshops , while Transfield Services took over track maintenance. In 2001, Tranz Rail sold 50% of Tranz Scenic to two directors of
4277-561: The company, even though it stated Fay Richwhite had an unfair advantage over other bidders. Business journalist Brian Gaynor noted that New Zealand Rail was an attractive investment because of its strong balance sheet. Six consortiums made bids to buy New Zealand Rail Limited: The company was sold to the Fay Richwhite-Wisconsin Central consortium for $ 328.3 million through an entity named Pylorus Investments Limited, shortly afterwards renamed Tranz Rail Limited . The sale
4368-502: The company. The Government would have had the right to nominate three of the seven directors on the board. This met with approval from the Rail & Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) which had run a vigorous "Take Back The Track" campaign for the government to renationalise the railway network. The Rail Freight Action Group, which represents the interests of some of the biggest rail freight using companies, declared its support. Tranz Scenic, by then
4459-507: The completion of the Midland Line in the South Island . The tunnel included the first section of railway electrification in New Zealand and its first electric locomotives, the original E class . The section was electrified at 1,500 V DC, due to the steep grade in the tunnel, and included its own hydro-electric power station. The second section to be electrified by the department was
4550-510: The contract and entered into an agreement with General Motors for the supply of 40 EMD G12 model locomotives, designated by NZR as the D class . The first of these locomotives entered service in September 1955, with all of this initial order running by September 1957. On Christmas Eve 1953, the worst disaster in NZR's history, and one of the worst in New Zealand's history occurred. 151 people died when
4641-466: The department. An acute housing shortage following the war led to the creation of Railways Department's Housing Scheme in 1922. The first of the now-iconic railway houses were prefabricated in a factory in Frankton for NZR staff. This scheme was shut down in 1929 as it was considered improper for a government department to compete with private builders. The Otira Tunnel was completed in 1923, heralding
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#17328511393554732-459: The department. As a result, the central government passed legislation to allow for the construction of more private railways. A Commission, ordered by Hall, had in 1880 reviewed 85 proposed and partly-constructed railway lines in the colony, and it proposed postponing 21 projects and recommended against proceeding with 29 others. The Commissioners were especially critical of the colony's existing railways' inability to generate sufficient income to pay
4823-592: The depression. An exception was the Stratford–Okahukura Line , finished in 1933. However, there was criticism that maintenance was being neglected. In the Liberals last year of office in 1912, 140 miles (230 km) of line had been relaid, but that was reduced to 118 in 1913, 104 in 1914, 81 in 1924 and 68 in 1925, during the Reform Government 's years. Once again, growing traffic requirements led to
4914-425: The end, with complaints as late as 1984 that buses should not be competing with trains. Early years of the Road Services saw many different brands of buses acquired with the various constituent companies. From Ford Model T -based cars to Straker steam trucks, to various Albion , Cadillac , Dodge and Leyland buses. The builders of the bodies were many and various. Leading up to World War II , standardisation
5005-653: The fastest train, but 9hr by bus. By the 1970s, NZRRS offered a nationwide service. Some routes were direct train replacements, but others extended the reach of the railways to other towns and destinations, including: In addition, there were many other local and urban services across the country. There was a certain amount of rivalry within NZR between NZRRS and the rail Traffic Branch and in many ways they competed with rather than complement each other. For example, many cities had bus terminals some distance from railway stations and many NZRRS routes ran parallel to and at similar times to trains. This animosity lasted almost to
5096-408: The ferry and rolled off at the other side. This led to many benefits for NZR customers. Tranz Rail Tranz Rail , formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited ( New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003. The New Zealand railway network was initially built by provincial governments , starting with
5187-420: The first public railway at Ferrymead on 1 December 1863. During The Vogel Era of the late 1860s to the 1870s, railway construction by central government expanded greatly, from just 80 kilometres (50 miles) in 1869 to 1,900 kilometres (1,200 miles) in 1880. Following the abolition of the provinces in 1877, the Public Works Department took over the various provincial railways. Since the Public Works Department
5278-428: The following year Parliament passed the Transport Licensing Act 1931 . The Act regulated the carriage of goods and entrenched the monopoly the department had on land transport. It set a minimum distance road transport operators could transport goods at 30 miles (48 km) before they had to be licensed. The Act was repealed in 1982. Alongside these changes, in 1931 the Railways Department was briefly restructured into
5369-415: The former General Manager, and had 10 members from around the country. The Board stopped building on the Dargaville branch , Gisborne line, Main South Line, Nelson Section, Okaihau to Rangiahua line and Westport-Inangahua line . For that it was criticised by Bob Semple , the new Minister of Public Works, in a speech in 1935 and abolished by the First Labour Government in 1936. In 1933 plans for
5460-409: The future of the company. Some of the original Tranz Rail shareholders took advantage of the high share price to sell down their shares in the company. Berkshire Fund sold most of its shares at more than $ 8 each between November 1996 and March 1997. In 1998, Alex van Heeren sold his holding for a profit of more than $ 42 million, and the next year Fay Richwhite sold 6.2 million shares at an average $ 3.67
5551-422: The interest on the loans that had funded their construction: The extent to which this fatal mistake has been made may be in some degree realized by a comparison of the relations between railways and population in this and other countries. In Great Britain the amount of population to each mile of railway is 1,961; in the United States, 580; in New South Wales, 1,108; in Victoria, 924; while in New Zealand we have only
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#17328511393555642-400: The introduction of a new type of locomotive, the ill-fated G class Garratt locomotives in 1928. Three of the locomotives were introduced for operation on the North Island Main Trunk. They were not well suited to New Zealand conditions: they had overly complex valve gear , were too hot for crews manning them and too powerful for the wagons they were hauling. The failure of this class lead to
5733-463: The introduction of the K class in 1932. Tough economic conditions and increasing competition from road transport led to calls for regulation of the land transport sector. In 1931 it was claimed half a million tons of freight had been lost to road transport. That year, the department carried 7.2 million passengers per year, down from 14.2 million in 1923. In 1930 a Royal Commission on Railways recommended that land transport should be "co-ordinated" and
5824-547: The land beneath the railway tracks and yards, which New Zealand Rail paid $ 1 per year to lease. New Zealand Rail re-branded, introducing a new logo similar to the Railways Corporation but with blue and yellow as colours instead of red and black, and a blue livery on locomotives, rolling stock and buildings. The Bolger National government , elected following the defeat of the fourth Labour government in elections held in October 1990 , privatised New Zealand Rail Limited in 1993. The New Zealand Treasury supported privatisation of
5915-445: The middle of 1997 due to the enthusiasm at the time for rail to have a revitalised future however the ongoing and unsustainable rail infrastructure costs were what failed the company in the end despite aggressive efforts to maintain a sustainable business. The rail traffic and extensive network were simply not sustainable to maintain by a private company in the long term even through Wisconsin Central Transportation were heavily invested in
6006-479: The most powerful locomotive at the time. Gold rushes led to the construction of the Thames Branch , opening in 1898. In 1906 the Dunedin railway station was completed, architect George Troup . A. L. Beattie became Chief Mechanical Officer in April 1900. Beattie designed the famous A class , the Q class (the first "Pacific" type locomotive in the world), and many other locomotive classes. NZR's first bus operation began on 1 October 1907, between Culverden on
6097-459: The new Passenger Business Group, NZRRS was progressively rebranded: The freight trucking business was split off and combined with rail freight into the Freight Business Group, branded Railfreight Systems. Road and rail services were separated in 1991 when the rail and ferry operations of New Zealand Railways Corporation were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited and the road transport operations were sold: The road freight operation stayed with
6188-447: The operations of the railway network substantially during the 1980s, reducing staffing levels, closing workshops, and introducing a number of measures to increase productivity, such as removing guard's vans, increasing train lengths and introducing new, heavier bulk bogie wagons. The Fourth Labour Government passed the New Zealand Railways Corporation Restructuring Act 1990 on 28 August of that year. Two months later, on 28 October 1990,
6279-408: The previous 12 months. Beard introduced a "mode neutral" policy at the same time, as part of his "Intermodal Transformation Project". The project emphasised containerised freight over "marginal" freight, which Tranz Rail stopped carrying by rail. This led to accusations that Tranz Rail was intentionally moving freight off rail and onto roads. One of the reasons cited by Tranz Rail for these policies
6370-420: The rail and sea transport assets of Toll NZ Limited for $ 665 million. The government branded the new company KiwiRail . The total number of tonnes transported by New Zealand Rail and Tranz Rail from 1995 increased between 1993 and 2003, peaking in 2000. Rail freight volumes 1993 – 2003 (year ending 30 June): In late 2004, the New Zealand Securities Commission launched an investigation into
6461-399: The rail network maintenance which it had spent over $ 900 million from 1993-2003. Beard also moved Tranz Rail's headquarters from the Wellington railway station to a new purpose-built office on the North Shore of Auckland, at a cost of $ 16 million. In 2000 a ministerial inquiry was formed to look into Tranz Rail's safety record, due to an unusually high number of work-related fatalities over
6552-408: The railways, eventually becoming part of Tranz Link in 1995. New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department , NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system . The Department was created in 1880 and
6643-411: The retirement of Dr Francis Small who had led the organisation from its SOE days into its first phase of privatisation. His policy was to focus on the rail freight operation, and sell any assets which were not core to this business, such as long-distance passenger trains (Tranz Scenic) and commuter services in Wellington and Auckland (Tranz Metro), partly because Tranz Rail was running out of cash to fund
6734-638: The then ECMT, the Taneatua Branch , was also completed. Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) was installed from Taumaranui to Auckland at the same time. In 1946 the last class of steam locomotives built by NZR was introduced, the J class . Due to coal shortages the K , J , K , J classes of steam locomotives were converted from coal to oil burning. Following the war, NZR contracted the Royal New Zealand Air Force from 1947 to ship inter-island freight across Cook's Strait between Paraparaumu in
6825-657: The war. For the first time, the Department employed significant numbers of women to meet the shortages. The war created serious coal shortages as imported coal was no longer available. Despite this, NZR had record revenues in 1940. Despite the war and associated labour and material shortages, new railway construction continued. In 1942 the Gisborne Line was finally opened, followed by the Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch being completed in 1945. The final section of
6916-497: Was a responsible Minister, the Minister of Railways . He was often also the Minister of Public Works. Apart from four brief experiments with independent boards, NZR remained under direct ministerial control for most of its history. Originally, New Zealand's railways were constructed by provincial governments and private firms. The largest provincial operation was the Canterbury Provincial Railways , which opened
7007-702: Was appointed General Manager in 1933, and worked hard to improve the standard and range of services provided by the Department. This included a number of steps to make passenger trains faster, more efficient and cheaper to run. In the early 20th century, NZR had begun investigating railcar technology to provide passenger services on regional routes and rural branch lines where carriage trains were not economic and "mixed" trains (passenger carriages attached to freight trains) were undesirably slow. However, due to New Zealand's rugged terrain overseas technology could not simply be directly introduced. A number of experimental railcars and railbuses were developed. From 1925 these included
7098-423: Was charged with constructing new railway lines (among other public works) the day to day railway operations were transferred into a new government department on the recommendation of a parliamentary select committee. At the time 1,828 kilometres (1,136 miles) of railway lines were open for traffic, 546 km (339 mi) in the North Island and 1,283 km (797 mi) in the South Island , mainly consisting of
7189-521: Was completed on 30 September 1993. Tranz Rail Limited raised funds to buy New Zealand Rail by borrowing $ 223.3 million, and its shareholders contributed $ 105 million to the acquisition price through the purchase of 105 million Tranz Rail shares at $ 1 each. In 1994 the company sold its 15% stake in Clear Communications for $ 72.6 million, $ 20.1 million above book value. The company had gained its shareholding by selling its fibre optic network along
7280-442: Was corporatised on 1 April 1982 into the New Zealand Railways Corporation . Originally, railway construction and operation took place under the auspices of the former provincial governments and some private railways, before all of the provincial operations came under the central Public Works Department . The role of operating the rail network was subsequently separated from that of the network's construction. From 1895 to 1993 there
7371-616: Was created by Wellington-based Cato Partners, who also designed brands for the divisions of Tranz Rail: The livery that resulted was nicknamed Cato blue by rail fans. Tranz Rail listed on 14 June 1996 on the New Zealand Sharemarket and NASDAQ . 31 million new shares, equivalent to 25% of the company, were issued to the public at $ 6.19. At the time of the Initial Public Offering (IPO), Tranz Rail had term loans debt of $ 300 million. The share price reached $ 9.00 in
7462-527: Was delisted from the NASDAQ, as 70% of its shares were owned by New Zealanders and 16% Australians. In May 2003, United States based RailAmerica made a takeover offer of 75c per share for Tranz Rail. The offer was later withdrawn when the share price dropped below 50c. In June 2003, the Government announced that it would buy back the rail network for $ 1 and purchase a 35% stake in the firm for $ 76 million (67c per share), which would have given it effective control of
7553-579: Was exempted from the Transport Licensing Act, effectively opening the sector up to competition. The introduction of GMV Aramoana in 1962 heralded the start of inter-island ferry services run by NZR. The service was very successful, leading to criticism, when the Wellington–Lyttelton overnight ferry was withdrawn, that NZR was competing unfairly with private operators. Before the Aramoana
7644-480: Was introduced, NZR could not compete for inter-island freight business, and the rail networks of both the North and South Islands were not well integrated. To send goods between the islands, freight had to be unloaded from wagons onto a ship on one island, unloaded at the other and then loaded back into wagons to resume its journey by rail. The introduction of a roll-on roll-off train ferry changed that. Wagons were rolled onto
7735-467: Was not handed over to NZR until 1900. By that time, 3,200 km (2,000 mi) of railway lines were open for traffic. The acquisition in 1908 of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company and its railway line marked the completion of the North Island Main Trunk from Wellington to Auckland. A new locomotive class, the X class , was introduced in 1909 for traffic on the line. The X class was
7826-471: Was opened to service a new pulp and paper mill at its terminus. NZR's first single-purpose log trains, called "express loggers", began to operate on this branch. The Kinleith Branch was shortly followed in 1957 by the 57 kilometres (35 mi) long Murupara Branch , which was opened running through the Bay of Plenty 's Kaingaroa Forest . The branch is the last major branch line to open in New Zealand to date. The line
7917-548: Was primarily built to service the Tasman Pulp and Paper Mill in Kawerau , with several loading points along its length. The line's success led to several Taupo Railway Proposals being put forward, with extensions of the branch being mooted at various times. In 1960 the second Christchurch railway station , at Moorhouse Avenue, was opened. The station was closed in 1990, with a new station being built at Addington. In 1961, livestock
8008-602: Was still building steam locomotives until 1956, when the last steam locomotive built by NZR, J 1274, was completed at Hillside Workshops , Dunedin . The locomotive is now preserved in Dunedin near the railway station. During the 1950s New Zealand industry was diversifying, particularly into the timber industry. On 6 October 1952 the Kinleith Branch , formerly part of the Taupo Totara Timber Company Railway ,
8099-670: Was the call. During the 1940s Ford V8 and Bedford truck chassis with New Zealand Motor Bodies (NZMB) became the standard NZRRS bus. In 1950 a 24-seat, forward-control Commer was introduced on the Gisborne -Auckland route. During the 1950s NZRRS began to widely use the Bedford SB chassis fitted with NZMB bodies. So much so, that the Bedford SB was ordered right up until 1980. NZRRS eventually bought 1,240 of these chassis, which were used in suburban, local rural, and long-distance service. This
8190-613: Was the cost of using road transport to the company was less than that of using rail, because the road infrastructure is provided as a public good , whereas the rail network was a private good . Tranz Rail won the Roger Award for The Worst Transnational Corporation operating in New Zealand on three occasions: 2000, 2001 and 2002, and was the first corporation inducted into the "hall of shame". The Awards came amidst critical reports of lax safety standards, inadequate maintenance, asset stripping and insider trading . In May 2002, Tranz Rail
8281-565: Was the largest fleet of Bedford SB buses in the world. During the late 1970s NZRRS, like many other operators, was having issues with the general reliability of their fleet. Orders were made to Volvo and Hino in an effort to find a better vehicle. Hino and Volvo buses and coaches were purchased right up until the end of the NZRRS. In 1985 the land operations of NZRC was restructured into market-based bi-modal (road and rail) business groups, rather than branches based on mode of transport ,. As part of
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