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A digital image of a new Interislander ferry to be built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. Photo: Supplied / KiwiRail
KiwiRail's Chief Executive Peter Reidy is in Picton this morning, talking with staff after the abandonment of the interisland mega ferry project.
The government has refused a request by KiwiRail for more than a billion dollars in further funding, and told the State Owned Enterprise to find a cheaper solution.
In 2018, the original estimated cost for the two new, larger ferries and the portside infrastructure was 775 million dollars.
Within months of the project being announced, KiwiRail was already asking the government for more money, and the requests have kept coming.
The latest overall cost estimate has quadrupled to almost $3 billion dollars which Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she will not agree to.
So what are the options on the table?
Where does the abandonment of this project leave the future of rail?
And how much taxpayers money has gone overboard?
KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy speaks with Kathryn Ryan.