It was recently decided by KiwiRail not to bid for its own contract where it was supposed to building carriages and engines for the Auckland rail system.

It was seen that after touring KiwiRail's Hillside engineering works, Jim Quinn, Chief Executive of the state owned company made an announcement in Dunedin.

"The decision is in no way a reflection on the confidence we have in our New Zealand workshops. It is simply a case of needing to use the finite capital we have to rebuild a sustainable railway for New Zealand for generations to come. That responsibility requires us to make the best decisions in each case", said Quinn.

It was assumed that the contract would now be won by an overseas firm. It was noticed that Dunedin had lobbied for the work which was carried out at Hillside and KiwiRail's other workshop which is located in the Wellington suburb of Woburn.

It was noted that a steering committee was made up of local MPs, Dunedin City Council, the Otago Chamber of Commerce and local engineering firms and had custom built a study from economic research firm BERL.

It was assumed that a New Zealand build could be worth $250 million to GDP and could create around 1300 jobs.