KiwiRail up the creek, again

The embarrassing break-down of the Stena Alegra, the ferry brought in by KiwiRail to replace the crippled Aratere, gives rise to more questions about safety on our inter-island ferries, says Darien Fenton, Labour’s Transport spokesperson.

“A comedy of errors has played out over several years, culminating with the Aratere losing a propeller in Cook Strait late last year.

“Now it looks like we’ve got another floating dunger.

“KiwiRail might have moved quickly to replace the crippled ferry, but it’s come at a cost and we need to be confident that the right decisions have been made.

“The Cook Strait service is a critical part of our transport and tourism network.  I don’t want to see confidence in this essential service further eroded.

“KiwiRail has a duty to assure passengers that its replacement ship is safe and reliable, and needs to do so quickly.”

—