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The New Zealand government sold their rail system, then Toll didn't make a success of it, so the government bought it back at a massive loss. Now rail is just
by robocat 4mo ago
The New Zealand government sold their rail system, then Toll didn't make a success of it, so the government bought it back at a massive loss.
Now rail is just a nightmare moneypit. But older voters love rail "it's efficient" so the government panders to them and wastes more expenditure on it.
Edit: Currently for every $1.50 tax income from road user taxes and petroleum taxes: $1 is spent on roads, and 50 cents is spent on "rail". Crap. Rail is paid for by cars but is mostly waste.
- Gud 4mo agoI don’t know much about New Zealand but I do know that a functioning rail network is amazing(I live in Switzerland and frequently travel by public transport). My native Sweden had an amazing rail network as well, we even made our own locomotives, but unfortunately it has also been neglected, though not as bad as in Germany. Don’t diss rail, it can be great.
- robocat 4mo agoRail can also be awful. New Zealand is largely coastal so ships mostly beat rail. The 3 largest cities have their own ports. Cook Straight separates the South Island from the North Island, which complicates rail down South (apart from the Kaikoura Earthquake totally stuffing it). We don't do many bulk goods (unlike Australia which loves mining). NZ overall has much less dense population - e.g. Auckland has insanely more urban sprawl than Zurich. Sweeping statements about rail are a problem here (especially if incorrectly comparing against other populous or landlocked countries), and the biased love of rail makes for wasteful expenditure.
- eqvinox 4mo ago> Auckland has insanely more urban sprawl than Zurich. Auckland: ca. 1000 people/km² in 30km radius Zürich: ca. 800 people/km² in 30km radius People severely underestimate how sprawly Zürich is.
- cuvert 4mo agoI don't know how many travelers use train instead of a car in New Zealand, but if it means 20% less traffic on the road, those taxes are probably worthy. That's what I say to all drivers which get nervous for sitting behind me when I bike to work. Think, that if I can't bike, there will be another car on the street.
- robocat 4mo agoYou're mixing urban and national rail. The national rail system is freight focused (and some token tourist services). Our politicians are involved with a very large money pit for a ferry between the islands: railcars being a VERY expensive requirement (I think because terminals for rail require much more engineering). It's a mess.
- lifestyleguru 4mo agoRailways are a difficult infrastructure, only one notch less difficult than airplanes. Even in terms of population, New Zealand would need at least 10 million population for dense railway network to make sense. Then car speed limit in NZ of mere 100kmh is very low, trains could easily move people faster than a car.