User:CleanupKiwi/Sandbox1

KiwiRail Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as KiwiRail, headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, is the largest railroad network operating in New Zealand. Jim Bolger is the current Chairman. Tranz Scenic, Tranz Metro, Interisland Line and Hillside Engineering are all subsidiaries of KiwiRail. KiwiRail is itself a subsidiary of New Zealand Railways Corporation.

Trackage
KiwiRail directly operates on some 3,898 (km) or 2,422 (mi) of track, of which around 500 (km) or 300 (mi) is electrified. The narrow 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) cape gauge was chosen due to the need to cross mountainous terrain in the country's interior and the lower cost of construction. Difficult engineering feats include the Raurimu Spiral and the Rimutaka Incline, the later no longer been in use. There are 1787 bridges and 150 tunnels.

Freight
With KiwiRail's large system, it hauls many different commodities, most notably coal and milk, as well as intermodal freight.

One of KiwiRail's major operations is on the Midland line in the West Coast, where unit trains consisting of up to 30 wagons transport coal from Greymouth to Lyttelton.

Passenger
Tranz Scenic is the long-distance passenger transport subsidiary of KiwiRail operating the Capital Connection, Overlander, TranzAlpine and TranzCoastal.

Rolling stock
KiwiRail uses a variety of different locomotives, including those for shunting and specific trains used for coal and other transport modes.
 * DAR: 1
 * DBR: 10
 * DC: 80
 * DFT: 30
 * DH of 1978: 6
 * DQ: 15
 * DSC: 70
 * DSG: 24
 * DSJ: 5
 * DX: 49
 * DXR: 2

Yards and facilities
Because of the large size of KiwiRail, hundreds of yards throughout its rail network are needed to effectively handle the daily transport of goods from one place to another.

Some of the more prominent rail facilities in KiwiRail’s system include:
 * Westfield, Auckland
 * Southdown, Auckland
 * Wellington, Wellington
 * Picton, Marlborough
 * Addington, Christchurch
 * Middleton, Christchurch

Workshops
Formally the New Zealand Railways Corporation had many railway workshops scattered throughout New Zealand. However, many have been closed due to government restructuring. Prominent workshops included:
 * Addington (inactive, now a classification yard)
 * Easttown (inactive)
 * Petone (inactive)
 * Newmarket (inactive)
 * Otahuhu) (inactive)
 * Hutt (active)
 * Hillside (active)

History
KiwiRail was created from predecessor railroads, which date back to the early portion of the 19th century. Prior to KiwiRail, it has been in public ownership and private ownership. Operators included New Zealand Railways Department, New Zealand Rail, Tranz Rail and most recently Toll Holdings-owned Toll Rail.

New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, the earliest predecessor of the railroad was the first operator in 1870 and would later be reformed in 1980 to become New Zealand Railways Corporation. Railway construction and operation took place under the auspices of the former provincial governments before coming under the central Public Works Department, but the role of operating the rail network was subsequently separated from that of the network's construction. From 1895 to 1993 there was a responsible Minister, the Minister of Railways. He was often also the Minister of Public Works, as the Public Works Department was responsible for constructing new lines.

New Zealand Railways Corporation
In 1982 the Railways Department and inter-island ferry service were formed into a State-owned enterprise called the New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC). In 1983, the land transport sector was deregulated, and rail transport went up against road competition directly for the first time since the 1930s. By June 1984, with the New Zealand economy in a weak position after years of poor economic performance, the long-serving Prime Minister Robert Muldoon called a snap election and was defeated by David Lange's Labour Party.

Tranz Rail
Tranz Rail was formed in 1993 when a National-led government sold NZRC to a consortium headed by Wisconsin Central. In 1995, the company was renamed Tranz Rail Holdings Limited; a year later it went public, listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. By 2003, Tranz Rail had become unprofitable and was facing probes from the Security and Exchange Commission, and many directors sold there shares. Rail America made an offer in April 2003, but later pulled the offer. In 2003 the New Zealand government proposed a $75.8 million bailout of Tranz Rail, in which the government took a 35% in the rail operator and gave it an immediate $44 million cash injection.

Toll Rail
Australian-owned Toll Holdings purchased the-then Tranz Rail for an undisclosed amount. Toll sold the rail network itself, back to the New Zealand Government for $1, in exchange for exclusive operating rights. Toll Holdings injected $250 million cash into the rail business, and purchased a new ferry called the MV Kaitaki, formally the Challenger, owned by P&O Portsmouth. In December 2007, rumours began circulating that the government intended to buy Toll Rail back, but Minister of Finance Michael Cullen would not confirm these rumours. The buyback was confirmed with a government announcement in May, 2008 that Toll NZ Ltd would be purchased from Toll Holdings for $NZ690 million (including $NZ140 million of debt).

KiwiRail

 * KiwiRail
 * ONTRACK

KiwiRail Subsidiaries

 * Tranz Scenic
 * Tranz Metro
 * Hillside Engineering

Articles about KiwiRail

 * KiwiRail value halves, 'BusinessDay'', June 3, 2009.
 * KiwiRail under price pressure, 'BusinessDay'', August 17, 2009.
 * MP at a loss after KiwiRail rejects plea, 'The Marlbourgh Express'', August 16, 2009.
 * Trains now called KiwiRail, 'Dominion Post'', June 30, 2008.