Tranz Rail
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State-owned enterprise (1991—1993) Private Company (1993—1995) Public company (1995—2003) |
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| Industry | Rail transport in New Zealand |
| Fate | Taken over by Toll Holdings |
| Predecessor | New Zealand Railways Corporation (as railway operator and owner) |
| Successor | Toll NZ (as railway operator) ONTRACK (as railway owner) |
| Founded | 1991 (as New Zealand Rail Limited) |
| Defunct | 2003 |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
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Area served
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New Zealand |
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Key people
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Chairman: Edward Burkhardt (1993—1999) CEO: Dr Francis Small (1991—2000) Michael Beard (2000—2003) CFO: Ronald Russ (1993—1999) Mark Bloomer (1999—2003) |
| Services | Rail freight long-distance passenger rail urban passenger rail inter-island ferries |
| Parent |
Fay, Richwhite & Company Wisconsin Central Berkshire Partners |
| Divisions |
Tranz Scenic Tranz Metro Tranz Link the Interisland Line |
Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited (New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.
The New Zealand railway network was initially built by provincial governments, starting with the Ferrymead Railway in 1863. From 1880 a central Government department, the New Zealand Railways Department, was responsible for operating most of the growing railway network. A few private lines were built, but only one, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (W&MR) achieved any measure of success. The W&MR was nationalised in 1908. In 1931 due to increasing competition from road carriers, the Transport Licensing Act 1931 was passed, restricting road cartage and giving the railways department a monopoly on long-distance freight. In 1982, the same year the land transport sector was deregulated, the Railways Department was reconstituted as the New Zealand Railways Corporation, a statutory corporation (later a state-owned enterprise from 1986). The Railways Corporation restructured the operations of the railway network substantially during the 1980s, reducing staffing levels, closing workshops and introducing a number of measures to increase productivity, such as removing guard's vans, increasing train lengths and introducing new, heavier bulk bogie wagons.
The Fourth Labour Government passed the New Zealand Railways Corporation Restructuring Act 1990 on 28 August of that year. Two months later, on 28 October 1990, the New Zealand government removed core rail transport and shipping operations from the New Zealand Railways Corporation, creating a separate entity called New Zealand Rail Limited, a Crown Transferee company created under the Act.
The government wrote off NZ$1.3 billion in debt acquired by the company from the Railways Corporation (mainly for the electrification of the North Island Main Trunk, a Think Big project), and injected a further $300 million in capital. Despite this capital injection the company remained only marginally profitable, reporting after-tax profits of $36.2 million in 1992 and $18 million in 1993. The Railways Corporation retained ownership of the land beneath the railway tracks and yards, which New Zealand Rail paid $1 per year to lease.
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Wikipedia