Great rail

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The Toll NZ , or rather Toll NZ Consolidated Limited was from 2003 to 2008, the only railway company with passenger and freight long distance in New Zealand .

The company was formed in 2004 from the renaming of Tranz Rail Limited , which was taken over in 2003 by the Australian transport company Toll Holdings Limited when it took over 85% of Tranz Rail Holdings .

Behind Tranz Rail Limited was an American consortium in 1993 as part of the privatization of state property the New Zealand rail network including the railway system and the ferry line between the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand Government for 328 million NZ $ took over.

When Tranz Rail Limited went in deficit and there were legitimate concerns that the company's financial difficulties would have a negative impact on the rail infrastructure and operations, the government bought back the rail network and the Australian Toll Holdings stepped in for the national rail and ferry operations, but not to be assumed without development and profit potential. It didn't work out. The government and Toll Holdings could not agree on cost sharing for rail and line operations, which in 2006 almost led to the discontinuation of the Overlander , the train connection between Auckland and Wellington . Furthermore, the Toll Holdings , which was only interested in the transport of goods by rail, announced in April 2006 that it wanted to sell the only two long-distance passenger connections on the South Island, the TranzAlpine and the TranzCoastal .

That was too much even for the New Zealand government. It has been shown that it is extremely difficult to run a profitable company that is supposed to contribute to the economic and environmental development of New Zealand without government support, said New Zealand Finance Minister Michael Cullen . In May 2008 it was finally decided to completely buy back the railway and ferry operations and nationalize them. For NZ $ 665 million and further concessions from the government, the deal was perfect and the chapter of a failed privatization was closed.

The Toll NZ Consolidated Limited with effect from 1 July 2008 in KiwiRail renamed, since 1 October 2008 on KiwiRail Holdings of the New Zealand Railways Corporation reports directly, making rail, rail and ferry services are back to 100 per cent state-owned.

literature

  • Robin Bromby, Rails - That Build a Nation - An Encyclopedia of New Zealand Railsways , Grandham House Publishing, Wellington, 2003. ISBN 1-86934-080-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Companies Register Search New Zealand Companies Office - (found December 30, 2008)
  2. ^ New Zealand to buy back rail operator from Toll Holdings - International Harald Tribune, May 5, 2008 - (Accessed December 29, 2008)
  3. ↑ Loss of patronage results in closure of Overlander - Scoop Business, July 25, 2006 - (Accessed December 30, 2008)
  4. ↑ Jens Meyer, The Railway Comes Back , Financial Times Deutschland, May 5, 2008 edition
  5. ↑ New Zealand buys back privatized railway - "Niedergang des Vermögens" - Handelsblatt dated May 5, 2008 (German) - (Accessed December 29, 2008)