Does KiwiRail need new ferries to replace the malfunctioning Interislander fleet? Here’s our detailed analysis.

The government has come under increasing pressure to replace the Interislander ferries after the Aratere ran aground near Picton. Finance minister Nicola Willis last year cancelled a plan to buy two rail-enabled mega-ferries due to cost blowouts. Willis said she wanted to buy the ferry equivalent of a Toyota Corolla, not a Ferrari. 

Cost: An estimated $900m for two ships, which could be as much as $3b when you include the cost of new wharves and terminals.  

Benefit: Passengers tend to prefer boats that don’t crash.

Cost: It would set an expensive precedent that all outdated and dysfunctional infrastructure should be replaced.

Benefit: A reliable, grown-up ferry network that people don’t have to worry about constantly.

Cost: We’d still have to worry about broken pylons, broken planes, broken rail, broken roads and broken pipes.

Benefit: We might get a new Interislander jingle. 

Cost: No more funny memes about the ferry [editor’s note: maybe this is actually a benefit].

Benefit: If we get a Toyota Corolla, we could still get a Ferrari later because even the old reliable cars are now more old than reliable. So we could have two cars instead of one.

Cost: Two cars sounds more expensive than one.

Benefit: Could be a lucrative attraction for tourists flocking to see New Zealand’s only functioning transport system. 

Cost: Would disrupt Simeon Brown’s secret plan to extend Wellington’s Long Tunnel under the Cook Strait.

Benefit: Would provide an essential lifeline for Picton’s economy.

Cost: You might have to go to Picton one day.