8820 (2026). Hon Julie Anne Genter to the Minister for Rail

8820 (2026). Hon Julie Anne Genter to the Minister for Rail: Has he received any briefings or advice about the cost or level of disruption to the freight network due to reduced capacity across the Cook Strait when there is unplanned maintenance or sailing cancelled due to weather, since Aratere was retired?

Rt Hon Winston Peters: Yes, this was considered in advice supplied by KiwiRail on the timing of the retirement of the Aratere and in subsequent briefings on the scheduled dry-docking programmes. These titles were previously referred to in the weekly responses to Written Parliamentary questions since 23 June 2025. As an overarching point, Bluebridge and Interislander coordinate their scheduled maintenance programmes to fall in the low seasons. These periods mean the remaining ferries are capable of serving the market demand. Kaiarahi was out of service for a few days recently, 100% of walk-on passengers were served by Kaitaki sailings over that period. To keep New Zealand’s supply chain moving freight has to be the priority. Additional Kaitaki sailings were put on over Sunday and Monday, which moved the bulk of the freight backlog. The backlog was cleared fully on the evening of Tuesday, 17 March. Interislander has been actively assisting private vehicle customers with urgent needs such as connecting flights, medical or treatment appointments, time critical work requirements, and other essential travel. Affected private vehicle passengers were initially rebooked for late March / early April, but since bookings reopened on 15 March there is some space available and Interislander has advised those passengers to rebook at an earlier date where possible.