An uncontrolled Taranaki rail crossing where a woman died
yesterday was high on Kiwi Rail's priority list for
installing flashing lights - something locals have been
calling for over the past 20 years.
Railway wagons built in China
and bound for New Zealand's railway network may end up
gathering dust at a New Zealand port if the Maritime Union
carries out its threat not to unload the ships on which they
arrive.
The Government has
already committed $750 million to help KiwiRail and it would
be hard to argue it should follow that up with a subsidy to
build its wagons, Transport Minister Steven Joyce says.
Hillside Engineering workers do not believe the Chinese
company contracted to build KiwiRail's new wagons will get
the job done on time, Rail and Maritime Transport Union
national president Jim Kelly says.
Engineering businesses warn any hit to KiwiRail's Hillside
Engineering workshops will hurt Otago's economy as unions vow
to stand alongside workers worried about their future.
Social networks Twitter and Facebook could play a part in
pushing the case for the Hillside Engineering Group Dunedin
workshops to build flat-deck wagons for its owner KiwiRail.
The decision by KiwiRail to award the tender contract for 300
container flat-deck wagons to the China CNR Corporation
against its own Dunedin Hillside Engineering workshops is a
savage blow to the city and the province and leaves the
Government vulnerable to accusations of "short-termism".
Kiwirail has awarded an estimated
$29 million manufacturing contract to a Chinese company in
what has been derided as a potentially terminal blow to its
Dunedin workshop.
Level crossing collisions have spiked, but Kiwirail does not
have the resources or the money to significantly increase
crossing upgrades, the state-owned railway company says in
its annual report.
