Freight operators and train commuters are set to benefit from a $604.6 million investment in New Zealand’s rail network as part of Budget 2025.
Rail Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Chris Bishop say the funding will support major upgrades and renewals across both the national freight network and Auckland and Wellington’s metropolitan rail systems.
The funding provides $461 million to maintain and renew the rail freight network, and $143.6 million to replace and upgrade the Auckland and Wellington rail networks.
It aims to deliver “a more productive, efficient and reliable rail network that supports economic growth and productivity”, Peters says.
“We want railways to succeed for this country – rail freight backs our business, and business backs our cities and provinces.”
Rail currently moves 13% of national freight and a quarter of New Zealand’s exports, acting as a key complement to road-based short-haul freight operations.
“The Rail Network Investment Programme for 2024–2027 is now funded, meaning maintenance, network operations, asset renewals and modest improvements are funded,” Peters says.
“This programme replaces decades-old bridges, culverts, and other assets with infrastructure to last for generations to come, and provides the bedrock for growth by the commercially-funded freight operations to move our goods.
“We have a legacy for rail freight and this builds on it,” he says.
“New wagons are serving customers and more are being assembled in Dunedin, and rail ferries are being secured on the Strait.”
In the metro networks, the Government is committing to critical renewals work that ministers say is long overdue.
“Metro rail investment in Auckland and Wellington will improve the level of service for passengers by addressing overdue and critical renewals work,” Bishop says.
“A backlog of overdue renewals has made services less reliable, with commuters experiencing ongoing disruption in recent years. Piecemeal network maintenance has increased overall costs and has not delivered the high-performing metro rail service that our cities need to flourish.
“The poor state of our metro networks has flow-on impacts for performance. For example, temporary speed restrictions are often needed as a safety precaution, leading to increased travel times and disrupting service schedules.”
Bishop says the Budget investment will help modernise urban rail while ensuring councils also contribute.
“The Budget investment in metro rail will continue to support delivery of modern networks that are more reliable, can be efficiently maintained, ease congestion on the busiest parts of the network, and allow for increased future demand. It will also ensure a better experience for commuters who already make 24 million journeys on the networks each year,” he says.
“Auckland Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council will also need to meet their fair share of costs to deliver the services we want for metro rail,” Bishop says.
Recent rail investments include:
- $159.2m to complete Auckland’s Rail Network Rebuild and address critical formation, drainage and track issues ahead of the City Rail Link opening
- $107.7m in Budget 2024 for metro renewals split between Auckland ($48.8m) and Wellington ($52.9m), with $6m in contingency funding
- $137.2m for Wellington substation upgrades to improve service reliability
- $802.8m for Wairarapa and Manawatū network upgrades and rolling stock
