Kiwirail loses Wellington train contract

Stuff reports:

Wellington’s commuter trains will be operated by the same company that runs Auckland’s rail network in 2016, after the capital cut ties with KiwiRail.

Greater Wellington Regional Council on Thursday selected Transdev Australasia as its preferred future operator for the passenger rail network that services Wellington, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Kapiti and Wairarapa.

French-owned global transport giant Transdev operates rail, tram and bus services in 19 countries across five continents, including Auckland’s passenger trains, Sydney’s light rail network and Melbourne’s buses.

In Wellington, Transdev will partner with Korean company Hyundai Rotem, which built the region’s new electric Matangi trains.

The regional council will now begin negotiations with the joint-venture to finalise terms before putting pen to paper on a 15-year contract in March, which will take effect on July 1.

Good for commuters to have a competitive contract which should see better services.

But the loser is the taxpayer who has to keep bailing out Kiwirail. As they lose business the cheques will get bigger. I doubt the Government could even sell Kiwirail as who would buy it?