The 10 Year Turnaround Plan was quickly undermined by a series of adverse events , including : Partially as a response to the events outlined above , in the 2017 budget the government announced a further $ 450 million in capital funding for KiwiRail , and that the company 's operations would be placed under another major review , believed to relate to future funding models . The $ 450 million was earmarked for repairs following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake and for further locomotive and rolling stock purchases . As part of the Turnaround Plan 's agenda to standardise locomotives and wagons , in 2016 KiwiRail announced it would effectively switch off the NIMT electrification in late 2017 and replace the electric locomotives with an additional eight DL locomotives ( additional to the 15 as reported in the 2016 Annual Report ) . On 30 October 2018 that capital funding was made available to by the new Labour-led Coalition government to refurbish 15 of the surviving 20 EF locomotives at the Hutt Workshops extending the service life by 10 years for their continued use , in line with the Governments energy and emissions policies , and while the government is also actively considering extending the North Island electrification for the first time since the 1980s
2016 Kaikoura earthquake
2016 Kaikoura earthquake
KiwiRail