Important update: Industrial action affecting Interislander freight services

KiwiRail has received 14 days’ notice of industrial action from the Aviation and Marine Engineers Association, which represents Interislander’s engineers, and the New Zealand Merchant Service Guild, which represents Interislander’s officers.

The industrial action relates to collective employment agreement negotiations currently underway.

There are no changes to Interislander services at this stage.

Our teams are assessing the confirmed notices and working through the potential impact on sailings, freight movements, capacity and customer bookings. We are also working through contingency options so we can minimise disruption where possible and give customers as much certainty as we can.

KiwiRail remains committed to reaching a fair settlement through good faith bargaining and continues to engage constructively with both unions.

Our priority is to meet all safety and regulatory obligations, maintain essential connectivity across Cook Strait where we can, and keep customers informed as the situation develops.

If any sailings, freight movements or customer bookings are affected, we will contact impacted customers directly. We will also update this page by Monday 7 September or sooner, if there is a material change.

If you have questions about an existing freight booking, please contact your Key Account Executive or our:

Rail Freight Customer Services team:
Phone: 0800 351 351, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Email:  domestic@kiwirail.co.nz or imex@kiwirail.co.nz

Interislander Freight Customer Services team:
Phone: 0800 660 670
Email: freight@interislander.co.nz
Interislander freight call centre hours:
7:30am – 7:30pm, Monday to Friday and 8.30am – 2.30pm Saturdays and public holiday.