The inspection fee will now be cost-recovery, estimated at $50 to $100 a crossing every second year and landowners will be responsible for maintaining the safety of the crossings.
The process will allow KiwiRail to accumulate a formal, legal record of all crossings but farmers will be responsible for the cost of any safety work, such as removing vegetation and maintaining the surface of the crossing.
Federated Farmers president Katie Milne supports the new policy saying she appreciates KiwiRail listened to its views but it could mean some informal crossings will close.
“It’s good that KiwiRail will only charge actual costs and that KiwiRail is formalising farmer use of rail crossings, which provides farmers with some certainty they can continue to use them.
“However, there is a concern that some informal rail crossings will be closed because the safety concerns are considered insurmountable.
“That’s going to be difficult for farmers if that was their only route for accessing parts of their farm,” she said.
KiwiRail’s investment, planning and risk group general manager David Gordon estimates there are about 1300 private crossings of which about 700 are undocumented or unauthorised.
“There will now be no set annual fee as was proposed two years ago. Instead, most farmers will be charged only the actual cost of the inspection of any crossings on their land.
“That is estimated at $50 to $100 per crossing, with inspections every two years.
“Farmers will be responsible for the cost of any work needed make sure the crossing is safe to use,” he said.
