Two new rail-enabled ferries are promised for the Cook Strait for 2029 – a year that will see the current fleet working right up to its use-by date.
Rail Minister Winston Peters on Monday pledged the new ferries would be “significantly cheaper” than the past Labour Government’s iRex project, but he would not say whether the project was more expensive than a version of the plan Finance Minister Nicola Willis produced in December.
The savings would be around Wellington port infrastructure, Peters said. He did not reveal the new cost.
The two ferries would enter service in 2029 – the same year the current fleet is estimated to reach its end-of-life. Cabinet had agreed to the package, Peter said.
