Rail privatisation in New Zealand

Rail privatisation in New Zealand took place between 1993 and 2008.

History

New Zealand's railways were initially run by the former provincial governments. The Canterbury Provincial Railways opened the first line, the Ferrymead Railway, in 1863. It was followed by railways in Southland and Auckland. In 1870, Julius Vogel outlined his "Great Public Works" policy and the central government took authority for the construction and operation of railways, under the auspices of the Public Works Department and New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) respectively.

Some private railways were established in the late 19th century. The most prominent and successful was the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, whose Wellington - Manawatu Line opened in 1886 and was acquired by NZR in 1908 to complete the North Island Main Trunk Railway. The Midland Railway Company was much less successful; after lengthy litigation, its assets were seized by the government after it proved incapable of completing its projects. On a much smaller scale, the Castlecliff Branch operated under private ownership from 1885 until 1956.

1990s privatisation

In 1981, NZR became a state-owned enterprise, the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It was in turn privatised by the Bolger National government in 1993 and renamed Tranz Rail in 1995.

After financial and commercial difficulties in the early 2000s, the Clark Labour government re-acquired the fixed infrastructure (track, signals and train control) for $1 and placed it under the administration of ONTRACK. Toll Rail took over the operation of trains, except for the Auckland suburban services under contract from ARTA to Veolia. In turn, Toll Rail was purchased by the Clark Labour government in May 2008 due to take effect on 1st July 2008.