Editing Tranz Rail (section)

===Intermodal Transformation Project===
Michael Beard became CEO of Tranz Rail in 2000 following the retirement of Dr Francis Small who had led the organisation from its SOE days into its first phase of privatisation.<ref name="unlimited">{{cite web|url=http://unlimited.co.nz/unlimited.nsf/default/can-this-man-save-tranz-rail |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223014153/http://unlimited.co.nz/unlimited.nsf/default/can-this-man-save-tranz-rail |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 February 2013 |title=Can this man save Tranz Rail? |date=1 July 2001 |accessdate=5 January 2012 |work=Unlimited magazine |author=Nikki Mandow }}</ref> His policy was to focus on the rail freight operation, and sell any assets which were not core to this business, such as long-distance passenger trains (Tranz Scenic) and commuter services in Wellington and Auckland (Tranz Metro),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=3502824|title=Michael Beard: Tranz Rail's customer focus is working|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|accessdate=10 January 2012|date=20 May 2003|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107192103/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=3502824|url-status=live}}</ref> partly because Tranz Rail was running out of cash to fund the rail network maintenance which it had spent over $900 million from 1993-2003.{{citation needed|date=July 2022|reason=needs a reference}} Beard also moved Tranz Rail's headquarters from the [[Wellington railway station]] to a new purpose-built office on the North Shore of Auckland, at a cost of $16 million.<ref name="unlimited" /> In 2000 a ministerial inquiry was formed to look into Tranz Rail's safety record,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beehive.govt.nz/node/8454|title=beehive.govt.nz/node/8454|date=7 September 2000|publisher=[[The Beehive (building)|The Beehive]]|accessdate=23 January 2012|author=Margaret Wilson|author-link=Margaret Wilson|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107192102/http://www.beehive.govt.nz/node/8454|url-status=live}}</ref> due to an unusually high number of work-related fatalities over the previous 12 months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/2617 |title=Tranz Rail to be brought into line |publisher=[[TVNZ]] |date=7 September 2000 |accessdate=23 January 2012 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Beard introduced a "mode neutral" policy at the same time, as part of his "Intermodal Transformation Project".<ref name="itp">{{cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/tranz-rail-moves-deliver-gains/RV43NEY733OT2UPZ3BSBSTPZFU/|title=Tranz Rail moves deliver gains|author=Noel Coom|date=21 November 2002|accessdate=19 April 2022|archive-date=19 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419080937/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/tranz-rail-moves-deliver-gains/RV43NEY733OT2UPZ3BSBSTPZFU/|url-status=live}}</ref> The project emphasised containerised freight over "marginal" freight, which Tranz Rail stopped carrying by rail.<ref name="itp" /> This led to accusations that Tranz Rail was intentionally moving freight off rail and onto roads. One of the reasons cited by Tranz Rail for these policies was the cost of using road transport to the company was less than that of using rail, because the road infrastructure is provided as a [[Public good (economics)|public good]], whereas the rail network was a [[private good]].<ref name="tranzrail_ppp">{{cite web|url=http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/97cd142a/tranz-rail-a-case-for-public-private-partnership.html|title=Tranz Rail a case for public private partnership|date=24 April 2003|accessdate=6 March 2012|author=Sharechat.co.nz|archive-date=7 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107192103/http://www.sharechat.co.nz/article/97cd142a/tranz-rail-a-case-for-public-private-partnership.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Roger Award====
Tranz Rail won the [[Roger Award]] for The Worst Transnational Corporation operating in New Zealand on three occasions: 2000, 2001 and 2002, and was the first corporation inducted into the "hall of shame". The Awards came amidst critical reports of lax safety standards, inadequate maintenance, [[asset stripping]] and [[insider trading]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://canterbury.cyberplace.org.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/Roger2000.pdf|title=The 2000 Roger Award for the worst Transnational operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand|publisher=[[Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa]]|accessdate=12 January 2012|year=2000|archive-date=4 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204055306/http://canterbury.cyberplace.org.nz/community/CAFCA/publications/Roger/Roger2000.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>