Down at the Station

摘要

In a report titled The Value of Rail in New Zealand'and made public at the end of November, the authors of the report found the total Value of Rail to the New Zealand economy to be between $1.54 billion and $1.47 billion. The majority of the benefits are in congestion benefits, particularly pertaining to passenger rail in Auckland and Wellington. The report encompassed the commuter passenger services in Auckland and Wellington as well as KiwiRail's freight services. It considered a quantitative analysis (congestion benefits, maintenance benefits, safety benefits, and emission benefits) and qualitative analysis (connectivity benefits, land use and value uplift benefits, and resilience benefits). The report is clear that the financial contributions made by the Government to KiwiRail's operation are dwarfed by the benefits to the economy. For a commentary on this report, refer to From the Top of the Raurimu Spiral earlier in this issue.