Interislander funding blow delivers climate impacts, uncertainty

KiwiRail will have to figure out a new way to ensure the resilience of the Cook Strait ferry crossing. (Image: KiwiRail)

Oliver Lewis

Thu, 14 Dec 2023

As well as creating uncertainty around the future of the Cook Strait crossing, axeing the Interislander replacement project will leave KiwiRail with a hole in its emissions reduction targets.On Wednesday, finance minister Nicola Willis said the new National-led government had rejected a nearly $1.5 billion bid by KiwiRail to cover cost escalations to the ferry replacement programme, known as iReX.KiwiRail has been working on iReX since at least 2018, when it published an indicative business case that opted for rail-enabled, rather than roll-on/...

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