Since KiwiRail announced the retirement of the Aratere last week, I’ve heard from many frustrated members. They’re concerned about reduced capacity across the Cook Strait, rising freight costs, and the disruption this will cause to their businesses.
This frustration is completely justified. In June last year, the Government-appointed Ministerial Advisory Group recommended procuring two rail-compatible vessels, to be delivered by December 2027. Instead, the country will now wait until 2029 for rail-enabled vessels.
Transporting New Zealand and the wider sector have been warning since the iReX cancellation that extended delays in purchasing replacement ferries would come at a cost. As is often the case with supply chain disruptions, road freight companies will bear the brunt of making it work.
The announcement has already led to challenges for freight operators. KiwiRail has temporarily paused new passenger and freight bookings for travel from 9 September 2025 onwards while they update their timetable and cargo allocations.
Subject to scheduling adjustments, the Strait will lose 26 sailings a week, including 10 freight-only trips. Freight companies and their customers will have to operate within a narrower selection of time slots while accommodating a steadily growing freight task. Transporting livestock and other time-sensitive goods will be particularly challenging.
Transporting New Zealand has been actively engaging with KiwiRail and the Minister for Rail to keep the freight sector informed and to minimise disruption and cost increases.
In correspondence with Minister Peters last week, I sought assurance that opting for rail-enabled vessels, as opposed to rail-compatible ones, was not causing delays and would not escalate costs. The Minister responded:
“You have also sought an assurance that proceeding with rail-enabled vessels as opposed to rail-compatible vessels is not delaying procurement or escalating the cost of the ferries. Yes, you can be assured of this. It was stated on 31 March that rail ferries are cheaper than road-only ferries, given new infrastructure is required for that option but avoided by the reuse option we selected. Further, all shipyards have stated that rail ferries have the same delivery timeframes as road-only ferries, meaning road-only ferries would not have been delivered sooner than 2029.”
The Minister’s full response, including updated ferry specifications and a delivery timeline, is available here.
Our members can be assured that we will continue to hold the Minister and KiwiRail accountable, emphasising the cost of indecision and delay on businesses and consumers across the country.
