KiwiRail working through implications of iReX collapse with staff

Friday, 15 December 2023

Work in Picton continues on Thursday, behind the temporary terminal built earlier this year, despite the iReX project coming to an end.

KiwiRail is working with staff and contractors to “make sure everyone is OK” following the collapse of the Cook Strait ferry plan, chief executive Peter Reidy says.

“Our first priority is people,” Reidy said.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis revealed on Wednesday the cost of the project – to shore up the link between the North and South islands – had more than tripled in three years, to about $3 billion.

The Inter-Island Resilient Connection project, or iReX for short, would have seen major developments at the ports of Picton and Wellington, as well as the purchase of two new larger and greener ships to carry passengers, trucks, cars and trains. The first ship was set to be launched in January 2025.

It was considered a “once-in-a-lifetime” project, but without the extra $1.47b it wanted from the Government, KiwiRail said it had to pull the pin and start winding the project down.

Reidy said $400 million had already been spent on the iReX project.

This included $276 million on the two terminals, for design and consenting plus enabling and early construction work, and $78 million on the ships, for design, procurement and an initial deposit.

In Picton, the iReX project included a new terminal building, a new wharf and passenger walkway, a new rail yard, new vehicle boarding, and a Dublin St bridge over railway lines, to improve traffic flows in the port town when larger ferries came in. The Waitohi Picton ferry precinct redevelopment, as the Picton part of iReX was dubbed, was going to need up to 300 workers.

Workers and iReX managers had already moved to Picton, taking up rentals and houses for one to three years.

Peter Reidy spoke on the decision to refuse a $1.47b funding request for KiwiRail’s new mega-ferries.

On Thursday afternoon, as the end of iReX started to sink in, some workers were having a pint on Picton’s foreshore. They said it was a “travesty” and “very sad”. They wouldn’t give their names and one said he had been told “not to say much”. His partner was going to quit her job in Auckland and move to Picton, and hopefully get a job teaching, he said.

Reidy said the decision on funding had only just been made and KiwiRail was “working through the implications of that for staff”.

“We are working with contractors and all of our staff to make sure everyone is OK,” he said.

KiwiRail was “not going to walk away” from the work it had started in Waitohi Picton and Kaiwharawhara, in Wellington, Reidy said.

“We are developing a plan to ensure things are in good shape during the summer peak so the ferries and Picton town can operate efficiently. We are also developing next steps for our work in the two terminals and will keep our partners and the community informed as things progress.”

Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor said on Wednesday Port Marlborough, which was wholly owned by Marlborough District Council, had robust agreements in place with KiwiRail that required the completion of early works at the port of Picton and the reinstatement of any affected assets.