Transport Minister Simon Bridges has announced the establishment of a new alliance to repair State Highway 1 and the rail line north and south of Kaikoura.

Duncan Gibb, formerly of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT), will lead the North Canterbury Transport Infrastructure Recovery (NCTIR) alliance.

The alliance is made up of the NZ Transport Agency, KiwiRail, Fulton Hogan, Downer, Higgins, and HEB Construction.

“The alliance will be the lead delivery agency to repair the transport infrastructure damaged during the earthquake,” says Bridges.

“These organisations have been heavily involved in the emergency response to date and will be able to keep momentum to help Kaikoura and North Canterbury to recover as quickly as possible.”

The work of the alliance will mainly consist of rail and road network reinstatement between Oaro and the Clarence River, and the management and operation of the State Highway Corridor between Picton and Christchurch via Murchison and Lewis Pass.

Bridges says with access restored to the alternate route and on State Highway 1 to the south, great progress had already been made, however other parts of the network have been significantly damaged and there was a massive repair job ahead.

“An alliance is a proven way to deliver high quality results for major infrastructure projects, especially where there is a high level of complexity.

We have seen this demonstrated with SCIRT which has done an outstanding job on the Christchurch rebuild.”

Last week the Government announced it would fund the complex repairs to the transport system, estimated to be up to $2 billion.