Thread: Cook Strait Ferry

Originally Posted by Bush Basher

Good on the Government for saying no. We don’t have a bottomless pit of money. Nice to see we have some adults running the country now.

But the children left quite a few leggo blocks on the floor to cause everyone some pain

Originally Posted by Tahr

I think the Gov are running a smart game. This will drive efficiency and break up NZ Rail's monopoly position. Also an incentive for Bluebridge to get smarter and more competitive.

Finally someone has mentioned bluebridge....the compitition..... the only way to break a monopoly is to have someone else doing the same job...how many times in last 50 years do the wharfies manning these ships decide to go on strike at this time of year??? far too often.

solar powered whakas tp please all in the sheepshed in wellington.alternate fuel would be provded from decomposing bullshit as spouted by you know who!

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

But the children left quite a few leggo blocks on the floor to cause everyone some pain

*deliberately

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Finally someone has mentioned bluebridge....the compitition..... the only way to break a monopoly is to have someone else doing the same job...how many times in last 50 years do the wharfies manning these ships decide to go on strike at this time of year??? far too often.

Work at Port Otago, been here 19 years never been on strike in that time.

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Originally Posted by Tahr

I think the Gov are running a smart game. This will drive efficiency and break up NZ Rail's monopoly position. Also an incentive for Bluebridge to get smarter and more competitive.

Ive been using either service about once every 3 weeks for the last 6 months. Its incredible how Bluebridge have improved and the inter islander has degraded since I last used the services 4 years ago.

Was talking with some Picton locals a few months back and they were fairly dismissive of the kiwi rail Plan. They said it was well know that the new ferries would need bigger trains, and that those trains couldn't form up on the existing flat ground, but also that they couldn't get up the incline out of picton.
They thought it was a major stuff up back then.

There will still be a ferry servoce...Problem is they decided they wanted to go to new mega farrys....Like buying a new dodge ram instead of a normal station wagon....so big it means a new garage (port) new loading areas etc...they decided to milk the taxpayer for everything and seem surprised when the govt says "cant afford that...." . All we need is reliable ferry's the size we have that are reliable and a maintenance schedule that is kept up to date....If the govt (us taxpayers) is financing it then I would sure has hell expect to be free or at least economical and for it not to be charged like a private enterprise seeking proffit and bonuses for the bosses....

Originally Posted by Bush Basher

Good on the Government for saying no. We don’t have a bottomless pit of money. Nice to see we have some adults running the country now.

If every single person in the country stumped up a one-off $320 that would cover the blowout.
No way Jose. That's $1600 for my household of potential wasted taxes. That's not ok.

Identify your target beyond all doubt because you never miss (right?) and I'll be missed.

Originally Posted by Brian

Pity they gave up on the Clifford Bay terminal.
Shorter trip, any size ship, no sounds speed limit and an hours less driving to Chritschurch.

One big sticking point with that in almost all of NZ salt supply comes from there...putting a port at the entrance would potentially contaminate that water supply and there is nowhere as well suited for salt production...though I guess we could buy it from a salt mining country....

Fascinating how a bunch of practical level headed people on here can come up several cost effective solutions in the space of 24hrs. I like the ideas of reinstating the Lytleton route with a couple of new ferries plus 2 or 3 new ferries, similar size to current, on Picton route. If the purchase was correctly scoped they could have common running gear, engines, etc so that would simplify & leverage maintenance costs. No need for massive port infrastructure spend, etc.
Taking a step back, I think the fundamental problem in this situation was a fatal error = giving Kiwirail the responsibility for deciding the solution. They always had their own agenda & bias, which has now been shown for what it is. Farkn wasteful, excessive & useless. Of course some of the KiwiRail “thinking” fitted very well with the last mob & their ideology, so you can see how it started & how it got hijacked. The trick is how to avoid this type of error & waste of tax payer $$ in future.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Fascinating how a bunch of practical level headed people on here can come up several cost effective solutions in the space of 24hrs. I like the ideas of reinstating the Lytleton route with a couple of new ferries plus 2 or 3 new ferries, similar size to current, on Picton route. If the purchase was correctly scoped they could have common running gear, engines, etc so that would simplify & leverage maintenance costs. No need for massive port infrastructure spend, etc.
Taking a step back, I think the fundamental problem in this situation was a fatal error = giving Kiwirail the responsibility for deciding the solution. They always had their own agenda & bias, which has now been shown for what it is. Farkn wasteful, excessive & useless. Of course some of the KiwiRail “thinking” fitted very well with the last mob & their ideology, so you can see how it started & how it got hijacked. The trick is how to avoid this type of error & waste of tax payer $$ in future.

that last sentence should be in the jokes thread

Originally Posted by STC

*deliberately

I think you are overestimating their abilities

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

I think you are overestimating their abilities

Yes and no.

Incompetence, mal-intent and outright corruption are not mutually exclusive.

Originally Posted by whanahuia

Ive been using either service about once every 3 weeks for the last 6 months. Its incredible how Bluebridge have improved and the inter islander has degraded since I last used the services 4 years ago.

Was talking with some Picton locals a few months back and they were fairly dismissive of the kiwi rail Plan. They said it was well know that the new ferries would need bigger trains, and that those trains couldn't form up on the existing flat ground, but also that they couldn't get up the incline out of picton.
They thought it was a major stuff up back then.

Kiwirails plan does make sense, avoid the extra work and land requirements to re marshal the trains to get them on and off the ferry at either end by getting proper rail-enabled vessels. Huge efficiency gains if it can be done in terms of freight that can be moved in the same space but the main problem is in the cost to do it. We've never had a modern freight capacity across the islands and without dedicated seafreight it's going to be a problem forever until someone sorts it. Ships are one thing, but relying on 1950's tech at both ends is going to end in a mess and that's what we have now. The teams operating the gear are doing the best they can in often shitty weather conditions and properly designed kit would increase the safety factor 50 fold. But - do we need the electric infrastructure as that is one of the huge expenses as I understand it - the electricity supply needs to be fully reworked to get the go juice to the boats and if that aspect is removed then probably the cost wouldn't be so eye-watering.

rail needed why??? to bypass using shipping of containers is my only real guess/reason.... other than that,whats advantage???
what goes via rail can be shipped and reloaded...