The Rail and Maritime Union says that KiwiRail management has admitted that it is maintaining some lines to a standard that will result in deterioration.
This admittance occurred during negotiations between KiwiRail and the RTMU on a proposed change in the make-up of maintenance gangs.
The RMTU is concerned that KiwiRail is so strapped for cash at a time when the road transport lobby is demanding more and bigger trucks on NZ roads.
‘To add insult to this injury, the National-led Government is considering allowing more and larger heavy transport vehicles on our roads as the recent release of the Ministry of Transport’s discussion document on this very question indicates,” says RMTU general secretary Wayne Butson.
“A forward thinking government would be investing in rail for the 21st century and beyond rather than considering increasing the size and number of diesel-belching dinosaurs like trucks,” says Butson.
‘Today we heard KiwiRail is maintaining some lines like the Stillwater-Ngakawau, the Napier line and the Northland line to a standard that it acknowledges will result in deterioration,” he says.
“Discussions with KiwiRail on a proposed change in the make-up of maintenance gangs led to management admitting this sorry state of affairs,” says Butson.
“For example, the North Island Main Trunk Line and the South Island Main Trunk Line are only being cared for to a standard that will maintain their current state,” he says.
“We are of the view that this is not good enough, and our national railway network should be improved,” says Butson.
“It beggars belief we have a rail system that funded in a manner that loads cost on the operator while the trucking industry does not pay the price for the environmental damage and congestion it causes,” he says.
“KiwiRail pays for the upkeep of the rail network while the trucking companies certainly do not pay their fair share of the cost of maintaining our road system,” says Butson.
