From Newsroom NZ today:

In the 16 years since it was bought by the government for $690 million, KiwiRail has had several overhauls and turnaround plans worth billions of dollars.

Its ambitions as a successful, profitable operator of tourism, freight and ferries have often been derailed by disasters from earthquakes to cyclones, mine explosions and the collapse of key industries like coal mining.

Add to that the Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ bombshell decision not to pump another billion dollars into the Interislander mega ferries, sinking the project and leaving a question mark over KiwiRail’s future as a shipping operator.

“I get the impression that Government and officials are asking themselves this very question,” New Zealand Herald‘s Wellington reporter Georgina Campbell says.

Campbell has been following the dramas of the Interislander for several years and says she felt relief that KiwiRail was pursuing a plan to replace the ageing ferries, especially after the terrifying Kaitaki incident last year when it drifted towards rocks, endangering the lives of hundreds of passengers on board.

“That really scared me and so I always felt that at least there’s a plan to replace these unreliable ships. I feel like I’ve been brought back to that space; I’m nervous. The Government says they’re working on a plan but technically there is no plan B yet,” she says.

Willis will not commit to having replacement ships on the water by 2026, as was the plan for the first mega ferry, but Campbell sees that as a political risk.

“What happens if there is another Kaitaki incident in 2026 and they haven’t got new ships and this time the ship doesn’t narrowly avoid disaster? There are a few things up in the air but in my view I think there needs to be a plan in place and implemented by 2026.”

_{https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/04/23/the-de-railing-of-new-zealand/}

Meanwhile in Scotland, the SNP Government is holding the line on behalf of vulnerable communities and investing what it takes to protect their futures with new ferries but, here, it seems that’s a bad thing.

Footnote: How is CalMac reliability these days? As low as 99.4% of more than 500 sailings on time some days – disgraceful! Sack the minister! Privatise!…..