In 2021, the government launched the New Zealand Rail Plan, with funding for rail projects to come from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), and with KiwiRail remaining an SOE but paying Track Access Charges (TACs) to use the network.

[10] Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger became the first chair of the KiwiRail board, a position he held until 1 July 2010.

In response, Bolger acknowledged his involvement in privatising New Zealand Rail, remarking that "my life is full of ironies,"[11] and added that "the world has changed.

In support of the turn-around plan, from July 2008 to December 2016 KiwiRail received over $2.1 billion of Crown investment, which was mostly spent on infrastructure and new rolling stock.

[15] The focus of the Plan is to increase rail traffic volumes, revenue and productivity, modernise assets and separate out the commercial elements of the business from the non-commercial.

[19] The plan has had mixed success, with company Chairman John Spencer stating in 2013 that for its first three years, rail freight revenue had increased by over 25%.

[20] Similar progress in attaining new customers and increasing freight volumes has been made over the life of the Plan to date (other than with coal).

Steady and at times rapid progress has been made on the enabling parts of the Turnaround Plan, such as new locomotives and wagons, lengthening of the rail ferry and track destressing, but not always effectively.

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.

They include a new train control centre in Auckland, replacing two Interislander ferries and rolling stock.

One of KiwiRail's stated aims is to progressively move towards standardized wagons, with the container flat-top being overwhelmingly the dominant type (carrying curtain sided swap bodies, liquid containers, Log cradles[42] and so on to meet almost all freight tasks).

Increasingly, KiwiRail is pursuing a commercial approach to asset management, and in the 2016 financial year received over $18 million from property sales.

[35] Re-branded along with Interislander as the single brand The Great Journeys of New Zealand in 2017, it is the long-distance passenger transport subsidiary of KiwiRail, operating the Northern Explorer, TranzAlpine and Coastal Pacific.

[needs update] In 2021, following a decline in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic, KiwiRail announced the suspension of the Coastal Pacific and Northern Explorer as part of Project Restart '22.

[46][47] While it is currently, as of January 2022, unclear what direction KiwiRail intends to take, Project Restart suggests a shift to multi-day land-cruises, a form of Experiential tourism.

KiwiRail is sub-contracted by Transdev Wellington to provide and operate the diesel locomotives required to haul the Wairarapa Connection service.

Most rail operations are a 'there and back' service with motive power being held in a few key strategic locations.

The majority of passenger carriages in New Zealand are now owned by Auckland Transport, Greater Wellington Regional Council and Dunedin Railways.