KiwiRail ferry cancellation cost nears half a billion

Bulk rail freight volumes suffered in the past financial year. (Image: KiwiRail)

Fri, 27 Sep 2024

Cancelling the order for two rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries has cost KiwiRail $468.8 million so far, according to notes to its financial accounts, released today.However, further costs loom as the price for exiting the contracts with South Korean shipbuilders Hyundai MIPO has yet to be finalised.One of the first acts of the incoming Government last year was to force cancellation of the so-called iRex project because of cost blowouts, caused almost entirely by the additional cost of earthquake-strengthening new railyards at Wellington and Pict...

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