Rail Link to Northport and Marsden Point

Rail Link to Northport and Marsden Point

Reference: 20180454 21 December 2018 s9(2)(a) Dear s9(2)(a) Thank you for your Official Information Act request, received on 2 November 2018. You requested the following: Communication associated with the KiwiRail upgrade in Northland and all activities associated with a rail link to Northport and Marsden Point. We clarified with your office that the request covers the time period from the 2017 General Election to the date of the request. The due date for the response to your request was extended to 21 December 2018. Information Being Released Please find enclosed the following documents: Item Date Document Description Decision 1. 8 November 2017 Ministry of Transport Briefing: Release in part Passenger Rail Networks in the Regions 2. 13 December 2017 Ministry of Transport Table: Rail Release in part projects that are possibly suitable for PGF Funding 3. 19 January 2018 Email: KiwiRail Options Release in part 4. 19 January 2018 Email: AH (draft content for FEC Release in part briefing) 5. 25 January 2018 Treasury Briefing: Meeting with Release in part Harrison Grierson and Silk Road Management Limited to Discuss Northland Rail and KiwiBuild 6. 26 March 2018 Ministry of Transport Rail A3 Release in part 7. 25 June 2018 Ministry of Transport Briefing - Release in part Meeting with KiwiRail about Marsden Point 8. 28 June 2018 KiwiRail Document - Agenda and Release in part Ministerial Briefing Northland Update 9. 4 September Email – Re: Marsden Release in part 2018 I have decided to release the relevant parts of the documents listed above, subject to information being withheld under one or more of the following sections of the Official Information Act, as applicable: • personal contact details of officials, under section 9(2)(a) – to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons, • advice still under consideration, section 9(2)(f)(iv) – to maintain the current constitutional conventions protecting the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers and officials, • names and contact details of junior officials and certain sensitive advice, under section 9(2)(g)(i) – to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions, • commercially sensitive information, under section 9(2)(b)(ii) – to protect the commercial position of the person who supplied the information, or who is the subject of the information, • direct dial phone numbers of officials, under section 9(2)(k) – to prevent the disclosure of information for improper gain or improper advantage. We have redacted the direct dial phone numbers of officials under section 9(2)(k) in order to reduce the possibility of staff being exposed to phishing and other scams. This is because information released under the OIA may end up in the public domain, for example, on websites including Treasury’s own website. Information Publicly Available The following information is also covered by your request and is publicly available on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website: Item Date Document Description Website Address 10. 24 May 2018 Provincial Development Unit Briefing https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dm – Northland Announcements – 1 sdocument/3139-doia-1718- June 2018 1884-northland- announcements-pdf 2 Accordingly, I have refused your request for the documents listed in the above table under section 18(d) of the Official Information Act: • the information requested is or will soon be publicly available. Some relevant information has been removed from documents listed in the above table and should continue to be withheld under the Official Information Act, on the grounds described in the documents. Information to be Withheld There are additional documents covered by your request that I have decided to withhold in full under the following sections of the Official Information Act, as applicable: • advice still under consideration, section 9(2)(f)(iv) – to maintain the current constitutional conventions protecting the confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers and officials, and • commercially sensitive information, section 9(2)(b)(ii) – to protect the commercial position of the person who supplied the information, or who is the subject of the information. As requested, below is a list of the titles of the withheld documents: Item Date Document Description 11. 13 August 2018 Provincial Development Unit Briefing – Regional Economic Development Ministers Briefing 12. 17 August 2018 Provincial Development Unit Draft Cabinet Paper – Provincial Growth Fund: Investment in the Growth and Development of the Regions 13. 5 September 2018 Provincial Development Unit Draft Cabinet Paper - PGF Investment in Enabling Infrastructure – Land Transport 14. 18 October 2018 Provincial Development Unit Cabinet Paper - Provincial Growth Fund Investment in Skills and Infrastructure In making my decision, I have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of the Official Information Act. Please note that this letter (with your personal details removed) and enclosed documents may be published on the Treasury website. 3 This reply addresses the information you requested. You have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate and review my decision. Yours sincerely David Taylor Manager, National Infrastructure Unit 4 OIA 20180454 Information for Release 1. RE: Marsden 1 2. 180628 - Agenda: Ministerial briefing - Northland update - Ministers Pe.._ (002) 3 3. Meeting with KiwiRail about Marsden Point - OC180511 (002) 8 4. Page 2 Rail A3 (002) 13 5. Aide Memoire Meeting with Harrison Grierson and Silk Road Management Ltd to 14 discuss Northland Rail and KiwiBuild (002) 6. AH 17 7. RE: KiwiRail options 18 8. Passenger rail networks in the regions (003) 20 20180454 TOIA BINDER Page 1 of 22 Deleted - Not Relevant to Request From: Mark Donnell [TSY] Sent: Tuesday, 4 September 2018 1:37 PM To: ^EXT: Angus Hodgson Subject: RE: Marsden s9(2)(g)(i) I think it is fair to: • say that KiwiRail is investigating options for a line to NorthPort, • note that the Government has the Upper North Island Freight Study work about to commence, • may fund improvements to Northland rail via the PGF s9(2)(g)(i) From: Angus Hodgson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, 4 September 2018 1:33 p.m. To: Mark Donnell [TSY] <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Marsden What do you propose Minister Peters’ response be? Sounds like it’s still under consideration and not yet announced. Hei konā Angus Hodgson Private Secretary (Finance and State Owned Enterprises) s9(2)(k) Sent from iPhone From: Mark Donnell [TSY] <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, 04 Sep 2018, 1:29 PM To: Angus Hodgson <[email protected]> Subject: RE: Marsden [UNCLASSIFIED] Not that I’m aware of. I believe the current status is: s9(2)(f)(iv) 1 20180454 TOIA BINDER Page 2 of 22 s9(2)(g)(i) • • I believe Minister Jones & the PGF may be waiting on some developments from the Upper North Island Freight Study s9(2)(g)(i) From: Angus Hodgson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, 3 September 2018 8:32 p.m. To: Mark Donnell [TSY] <[email protected]> Subject: FW: Marsden Is there a start date already? Please advise. Hei konā Angus Hodgson Private Secretary (Finance and State Owned Enterprises) s9(2)(k) Sent from iPhone Deleted - Not Relevant to Request Deleted - Not Relevant to Request 2 20180454 TOIA BINDER Page 3 of 22 AGENDA KiwiRail and Ministers of State Owned Enterprises and Regional Development Thursday 28 June 2018 10.30am – 11.00am 7.4 Beehive Executive Wing Attendees: Rt Hon Winston Peters, Minister of State Owned Enterprises Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Development Peter Reidy, KiwiRail Chief Executive Items Time Paper required 1 Northland Rail See attached – Paper 1: 25 mins x Overview of KiwiRail’s progress in Northland Rail Update Northland x Next steps 2 General business 5 mins Verbal update 20180454 TOIA BINDER Page 4 of 22 Ministerial Briefing COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE To Rt Hon Winston Peters, Minister of State Owned 28 June 2018 Enterprises Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Development Cc Trevor Janes, KiwiRail Chairman From Peter Reidy, KiwiRail Chief Executive SUBJECT: NORTHLAND RAIL UPDATE PURPOSE 1. This briefing provides information about KiwiRail’s progress on rail projects in Northland, potential future work and funding requirements if work is to continue. CONTEXT 2. The North Auckland Line (NAL) is a 281km long track that links Auckland with the Far North, terminating in the Bay of Islands at Otiria. The line has one branch running to Dargaville, which is used by a rail cart tourism operation and one branch running to the port at Whangarei, which is mothballed. Freight services operate between Auckland and Kauri (13km north of Whangarei) and commuter services operate from Swanson to the Auckland CBD. There is also a designation, but currently no railway, leading to Marsden Point (Northport). 3. Historically there was a more extensive network in the north. Putting aside the very early lines in the area, more recent closures were: x The Opua Branch from Otiria running via Kawakawa to Opua - closed in 1985; x The Okaihau Branch from Otiria via Kaikohe to Okaihau - closed in 1987. 4. In the subsequent 14 years, as minimum capital was spent on the line given its poor commercial returns, the following closures occurred: x KiwiRail ended services initially from the Dargaville line; x KiwiRail then ended services on the NAL north of Kauri; x KiwiRail last year ended passenger charter services on the line south of Kauri due to its condition. 5. Of the main lines within New Zealand NAL is an orphan on a couple of key dimensions: 20180454 TOIA BINDER Page 5 of 22 x Its maximum speed is 70kph (v 80kph for other main freight lines), and in practice, there are a number of sections operating much less than 70kph; x The maximum axle weight is 16 tonnes (v.

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